Archive for June, 2007
Witchblade (bringing comic books)
invad3r posted a photo:
Here’s another studio shoots turned into a photoshop composition, the theme on this one was the comic character "Witchblade", the model is my cousin Priscilia, the city under is Papeete (Tahiti), the gargoyles were shots at Paris ( Sacr-coeur)
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Witch Hunter Robin: Vol 1 Arrival
Witch Hunter Robin: Vol 1 Arrival
Please visit the Things From Another World website for product details…. |
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Retail: $ 29.98 Your Price: $23.98 Buy/More Info |
Batman: Urban Legend - Jim Lee T-Shirt (XXL)
Batman: Urban Legend - Jim Lee T-Shirt (XXL)
 The Dark Knight swings into action on the new Batman: Urban Legend T-Shirt. Features the art of Jim Lee screenprinted in full color on a navy blue 100% cotton shirt. The skies are safe with Batman on the watch!!… |
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Retail: $ 21.99 Your Price: $13.19 Buy/More Info |
What’s next? Superman happen to be Gay?! And Jimmy Olsen is Clark Kent’s boyfriend! Might as well revise Supes into SUPERGAY then. Sheeez !
Popularity: 10% [?]
It is an amazing story for a lot of good reasons, outlied by previous reviwers so well, it?s is firmly placed in a real and credible world, the character is very well developed, he is smart, the government have a very interesting role and the art is gorge (how much my comic books are worth)
It is an amazing story for a lot of good reasons, outlied by previous reviwers so well, it?s is firmly placed in a real and credible world, the character is very well developed, he is smart, the government have a very interesting role and the art is gorge
Lying In The Gutters
It’s a wild week with comics sent to the wrong address and held hostage by the new tenants, a possible addition to Punisher’s world, following up on what Ron Marz’s next DC project might be, the swipe file, breast reductions and much more in this week’s LITG! Updated
MR. HORRIFIC: Avrid Nelson Talks JSA Classified
This August, the JSA’s past comes back to haunt Mr. Terrific in a three-part story arc beginning in “JSA Classified” #29, written by “Rex Mundi” creator Avrid Nelson and we’ve go the details.
DC Archives - World’s Finest Comics Vol. 1 HC
DC Archives - World’s Finest Comics Vol. 1 HC
 Superman and Batman, the ultimate team-up! Reprinted here are Superman #76 and the team-ups from World’s Finest Comics #71-85…. |
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Retail: $ 49.95 Your Price: $49.95 Buy/More Info |
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Adventures Of Batman & Robin: The Joker/Fire & Ice
Adventures Of Batman & Robin: The Joker/Fire & Ice
 2 great titles on 1 DVD for the first time. 1st title: The Adventures of Batman & Robin: An evil grin, sadistic wit and a mirthless, bone-chilling laugh are all trademarks of BATMAN’S greatest foe: THE JOKER! Though frequently confined to ARKHAM ASYLUM, the evil CLOWN PRINCE OF CRIME keeps de… |
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Retail: $ 12.98 Your Price: $10.38 Buy/More Info |
Permanent Damage
The crazy busy part of Steven’s life has ended, but only five minutes before wrapping the column. Despite the insane schedule, Steven still makes it in this week with a huge preview of “Two Guns” and the cover challenge.
Popularity: 6% [?]
(Amazing comic book art) Oddball Comics: Picture Progress Vol. 1, No. 7
Oddball Comics: Picture Progress Vol. 1, No. 7
From the same fine folks who brought you the original CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED comes PICTURE PROGRESS, an educational funnybook that explains and explores “The Four Seasons” - and which cover-stars a tree! Thrill to the renewal of life that comes with Spring! Squeal with the pleasures of Summer! Gasp at the transforming colors of Fall! Delight at the chilly wonderment of Winter! Yep, this comic is so gosh-darn normal, it’s positively Oddball!
PICTURE PROGRESS was an educational giveaway comic that was distributed through various school systems, both public and private. Here’s a complete list of the themes for each issue of PICTURE PROGRESS published between January, 1954 and October, 1955:
Vol. 1, No. 5: “News In Review”
Vol. 1, No. 6: “The Birth Of America”
Vol. 1, No. 7: “The Four Seasons”
Vol. 1, No. 8: “Paul Revere’s Ride”
Vol. 1, No. 9: “The Hawaiian Islands”
Vol. 2, No. 1: “The Story Of Flight”
Vol. 2, No. 2: “Vote For Crazy River (The Meaning Of Elections)”
Vol. 2, No. 3: “Louis Pasteur”
Vol. 2, No. 4: “The Star Spangled Banner”
Vol. 2, No. 5: “News In Review”
Vol. 2, No. 6: “Alaska: The Great Land”
Vol. 2, No. 7: “Life In The Circus”
Vol. 2, No. 8: “The Time Of The Cave Man”
Vol. 2, No. 9: “Summer Fun”
Vol. 3, No. 1: “The Man Who Discovered America”
Vol. 3, No. 2: “The Lewis & Clark Expedition”
It’s interesting to note that, despite its rather inventive, four-way cover design, the artwork in this issue of PICTURE PROGRESS is about as blandly institutional as humanly possible, without a single word balloon or specific character. This may be due to its educational nature, but more likely, was intended to distance itself from newsstand “funnybooks” that, in 1954, were then-currently the target of psychologist Dr. Frederic (SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT) Wertham’s demonizing of comic books in general.
The title of this 24-page (plus covers) giveaway comic’s cover-story is “The Four Seasons”. It opens with this intro:
INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
All living things - human beings, animals, plants and insects - change with the changing seasons. Have you ever wondered why we have seasons?
Then, with a series of diagrams of the relative positions of Earth and sun, the cause of the four seasons is explained:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
The seasons are caused by the way the sun shines upon the earth. The earth spins around on a make-believe line we call the axis. See how the earth leans over to one side. It takes one full day (24 hours) for the earth to spin all the way around on its axis. The sun can only shine on half the earth at one time. That is shy we have day while the other half of the earth is having night. As the earth is spinning on its axis, it is also moving all the way around the sun. It takes a whole year (365 days) to make this trip. As the earth moves around the sun, the sun shines upon it in different ways during the year. This is what causes us to have seasons. Summer is hot because we have the heat and light of the sun directly over us. It gets cooler in the autumn because our part of the earth is moving away from the direct sunlight. Winter is the coldest part of the year. That is when our part of the earth is furthest from the direct heat of the sun. In the spring, the weather gets warmer because we have moved back toward the direct sunshine. Now let us see what happens on our part of the earth during the four seasons.
The second chapter of this issue of PICTURE PROGRESS is titled “Spring Begins March 20″. We’re shown how the snow and ice melts and the ground defrosts and softens, “making it ready for nature to awaken”. As sap flows within trees and plants, blossoms begin to appear, attracting bees from their honeycomb. The bees bring back nectar to their queen, who then lays approximately 4,000 eggs, one of which will someday become the new queen. We see how beavers build dams on water-swollen rivers, and a mother chipmunk digs a series of interconnected warrens and tunnels. A pair of robins, having migrated back from a winter spent in the South, builds their next in a tree. After the mama bird lays her eggs, she and the father bird takes turns sitting on the eggs and foraging for food until their babies hatch. With the weather turning warmer, farmers plant seeds that will become their crops. Elsewhere, on a pond’s surface, a bullfrog suns himself and hunts for tiny fish, while a mother frog lays her eggs at the pond’s muddy bottom. Soon, her eggs will hatch into tadpoles. In the world of humans, life’s activities accelerate as well:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
We have seen the beginning of spring in the country. But spring also comes to the city. The stores have new spring clothes. The baseball season starts in Washington, D.C. The President of the United States usually throws out the first ball. As the days get warmer and longer, children play outside until evening. Son the school children will begin their summer vacation.
The third chapter, “Summer Begins June 21″, starts with a montage of summertime activities — including what looks like scowling gonzo journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson spending a day at the beach! Meanwhile, the clutch of eggs of those robins that we met earlier have finally hatched, and their baby chicks have grown to an age when “summer school” is necessary to teach them to fly and dig for worms. Elsewhere, a hungry bear raids the bees’ honeycomb. By night, beavers train their young to gnaw down trees, while chipmunk babies evade a weasel by hiding in their underground next. In the nearby pond, the tadpoles have matured into full-grown frogs. The queen bee and her subjects abandon their honeycomb, leaving it to their industrious offspring. The next chapter, “Autumn Begins August 23″, opens with this update on farm life:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Our part of the earth is now leaning away from the sun. Both man and animal store food and patch up their homes for the coming winter. The farmer harvests his crops. The housewife cans food for the winter. Storm windows go up. Children go back to school.
Meanwhile, the beavers and the chipmunks prepare for winter, gathering stores of wood and nuts in their respective hiding-holes. Many birds prepare to migrate south, leaving their summer homes, although sparrows, crows and hawks remain in their nests for the rest of autumn and winter.
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
The cooler weather comes. The leaves on the trees turn red, brown and gold. They begin to fall off. Then, one windy night, the trees stand bare.
Field mice move into abandoned nests, while the bees gather together inside their honeycomb to avoid freezing to death. The chipmunks and the beavers hunker down in their nests until spring. The frogs hibernate in the mud at the bottom of their pond to keep warm beneath the frozen ice. Rabbits fur changes color to white, protective coloration to allow them to hide from their predators. The rising winds are filled with millions of seeds, destined to sprout in the spring. As “Winter Begins December 22″, this comic’s fifth and final chapter, opens, nearly all of the animals we’ve seen earlier are in hiding or in hibernation, emerging from their homes only when it’s necessary to gather food. A white rabbit is nearly killed by a hungry fox, but it manages to scamper back into its underground warren. Meanwhile, civilization adjusts to the harsher conditions:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Winter comes to the city, covering the gray buildings and the bare trees with a frosty, fairyland cloak. The park lakes freeze and become a winter playground. Night comes early. The street lights throw shadows on the empty sidewalks, while the people stay in their warm homes and wait for spring to come.
Also included in this issue of PICTURE PROGRESS are these features:
- An untitled, black-and-white inside-front-cover activity page, challenging the reader to unscramble the letters of the names of six flowers and six birds.
- “Picture Progress Quiz”, six illustrated questions relating to the contents of this comic.
- “Things To Do”, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover activity page, with a project “for boys” (a baseball diamond game) and one “for girls” (homemade sewing cards).
- “Do You Know That”, a back-cover feature with such educational tidbits as “The sun always shines directly on the equator, which is at the middle of the earth. That is why it is always summertime at the equator”, “It would take an airplane flying at 150 miles an hour nearly 71 years to go from the earth to the sun”, “Winter is an old German word meaning ‘time of water.’ This is because of all of the snow and rain that fall during this time of year”, and “Many, many years ago, men would look up at the stars and know when the seasons were going to change”.
ODDBALL Factoid - Although Robert Overstreet’s COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE lists PICTURE PROGRESS as a continuation of Gilberton’s PICTURE PARADE, according to the author of PICTURE PARADE No. 1’s “Andy’s Atomic Adventure”, it was actually a competing title!
The Buy Pile
Things are simply Marvel-ous as scoundrels rule the roost, ex girlfriends are bad ideas and if you’re using magic on Earth 616, you’re probably kind of goofy.
Save your money, unless you feel that $20 for a Superman flat paint scheme is okay.
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Dave Rodriguez Revisits His Creation in “Starkweather: Immortal”
Writer Dave Rodriguez is bringing da Starkweather back to stands with the help of Archaia Studios Press and author Piers Anthony!
Witch Hunter Robin: Complete Collectio
Witch Hunter Robin: Complete Collectio
Please visit the Things From Another World website for product details…. |
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Retail: $ 149.98 Your Price: $119.98 Buy/More Info |
Lying In The Gutters
Lots of good stuff this week including a possible Luke Cage period piece, news on the new “Flash” series, growing power structures in the industry, how a controversy can end up getting you work and much, much more.
There are few characters in literature more quintessentially American than Superman and few more difficult to write. Just compare the number of five star Batman stories with the number for Superman. The problem is trying to come up with a compelling story
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Popularity: 7% [?]
The (book comic list movie) Comic Book is one of America’s unsun….
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Resolved Question: Can you still apply for a mortgage, even though you may have bad credit and lost a house in foreclosure?
for example; if you were in an MVA and you lose your job and house. Can you still apply for a mortgage? And the source of income is social securties disabilty
the basics of option arms
Author: theoldlefty
Keywords: spoof infomercial mortgage
Added: June 23, 2007
It’s this sort of superficial investigation that dooms “Red Son” to superficial stabs at political comment, and third rate reimaginings of history that are, frankly, tiresome.
This TPB features Lex Luthor as bad as he can be, a cast of great guest stars, funny moments, and some series beat downs and battle scenes.
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Adventures Of Robin Hood: Vol 7
Adventures Of Robin Hood: Vol 7
Please visit the Things From Another World website for product details…. |
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Retail: $ 6.98 Your Price: $5.58 Buy/More Info |
Understand How Calculators Amortization liability to comfort
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Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Raina sketch (comic books store online)
Arambulo posted a photo:
In my copy of "Babysitter’s Club" Vol. 1. MoCCA Art Festival, NYC: June 24, 2007.
Despite the tweaking to Superman’s origin which he establishes as occurring today, rather than in the 1930’s or 1950’s, the author really doesn’t break any new ground. Luthor’s scheme, if you can call it that, is so over the top that it reminds me of
Power Rangers Dino Thunder: White Thunder Volume 3
Power Rangers Dino Thunder: White Thunder Volume 3
Nothing is what it seems as Dino eggs bring out a risky kind of Zord-play. A brand new alarm surfaces when Mesagog and henchwoman, Elsa, hatch a plan to stop the Rangers. The wily White Ranger is born from their blunder, and the Power Rangers have no idea who he is! As Dr. O is about to reveal White… |
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Retail: $ 19.99 Your Price: $15.99 Buy/More Info |
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Megaman NT Warrior Vol. 8: DenTech Troubles!
Megaman NT Warrior Vol. 8: DenTech Troubles!
 DenTech City’s Deep Freeze: During a blazing heatwave, Lan and his friends get a chilly reception when a blizzard puts DenTech City on ice! Crimson Flash: TorchMan returns - but in a scorching new way! The CutMan Brothers: MegaMan finds out the hard way why you shouldn’t mess with family! … |
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Retail: $ 14.98 Your Price: $11.98 Buy/More Info |
Popularity: 4% [?]
The Buy Pile (online comic book price guides)
The Buy Pile
Things are simply Marvel-ous as scoundrels rule the roost, ex girlfriends are bad ideas and if you’re using magic on Earth 616, you’re probably kind of goofy.
Superman can be so much more than the boy scout as this story demonstrates.
Mark Waid talks “Potter’s Field” with Paul Azaceta
“Potter’s Field,” Mark Waid’s first creator-owned work in years, launches this August from BOOM! Studios. Today, Waid stops by CBR News to share a revealing chat he had with series artist Paul Azaceta.
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Lying In The Gutters
You thought the cover to “Heroes for Hire” was interesting, wait until you see the latest cover Rich has uncovered. Plus, artist commisions and patience, follow-ups from last week, creators respond, what would happen if Agent 355 from “Y The Last Man” and the dinosaur Old Lace from “Runaways” were to meet and much more.
Dirty Pair Flash Vol. 2: Angels at World’s End
Dirty Pair Flash Vol. 2: Angels at World’s End
 If the Grim Reaper ever needed a sidekick, he’d have a hard time choosing between the Dirty Pair. Prone to violence at the drop of a hat, Kei’s solution to any problem is to blow it up. Candy coated death is the best way to describe Yuri; vanity is her favorite vice. Together, the Lovely Angels are … |
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Retail: $ 29.98 Your Price: $26.98 Buy/More Info |
Teen Titans: Animated Series Action Figure - Super-Deformed Robin
Teen Titans: Animated Series Action Figure - Super-Deformed Robin
 Daring, determined, resourceful. Martial arts, acrobatic speed and a utility belt full of gadgets is all he needs to take you down in a heartbeat! The Robin Action Figure stands approximately 6 inches tall, speaks when you push a button on his base and features bobbin’ action. Recommended for ages 4… |
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Retail: $ 11.99 Your Price: $11.99 Buy/More Info |
Popularity: 6% [?]
The (book card comic guide price) Buy Pile
The Buy Pile
Things are simply Marvel-ous as scoundrels rule the roost, ex girlfriends are bad ideas and if you’re using magic on Earth 616, you’re probably kind of goofy.
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
More June 27th Marvel Previews
We’ve got a whole bunch more Marvel previews for you, including “Black Panther” #28, “Daredevil” #98, “Fantastic Four” #547, “Immortal Iron Fist” #6, “She-Hulk” #19, “Silver Surfer: Requiem” #2, “Thunderbolts” #115 and “World War Hulk: Front Line” #1.
Batman/Grendel II: Devil’s Bones
Batman/Grendel II: Devil’s Bones
 The Dark Knight has faced many twisted nightmares: killer clowns and crazed ex-D.A.s, women dressed as cats and steroid-pumped madmen. But an unholy relic — the bones of Hunter Rose — has brought a deadlier foe to his city. A relentless, merciless foe. A foe known as Grendel-Prime. The devil has r… |
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Retail: $ 4.95 Your Price: $4.95 Buy/More Info |
Batman: Hong Kong TPB
 Murder is nothing new for Batman. But how does he stop a killer that seems to kill from across the seas? A computer hacker stubles onto a private web broadcast of a snuff film. Haunted by the images of the gruesome murder he seeks help from Gotham’s Finest, but is turned away when he’s unable to pro… |
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Retail: $ 17.95 Your Price: $17.95 Buy/More Info |
As Clark Kent is showing Kara the outside world Wonder Woman, Harbinger and Artemis ambush them. They insist of taking Kara to Themyscira home of the Amazons for training because Harbinger had a vague vision that bad things would happen due to Kara bein
Lying In The Gutters
What will David Morell, the creator of “Rambo,” be working on for Marvel? Rich has some details, plus a publisher gets in front of non-payment news, bits of news from Toronto, what’s in the cards for “Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane,” who’ll be joining IDW’s “Star Trek: Season Four” and much more.
REFLECTIONS: Talking with Marvel Editor Nick Lowe
Marvel Editor Nick Lowe is currently tasked with keeping most of the X-Books on time, which can’t be an easy job. Robert sits down with Nick to discuss how he got his start, what is required of an editor and much more.
Popularity: 4% [?]
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsun…. (comic book store guy)
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
First Thought Of The Day
Is the Underwood Devil the most under-appreciated corporate food logo ever, or what?
Son of Superman TPB
 His mother’s about to have a nervous breakdown. His father just came back from the dead. High-tech terrorists want him to be their leader. The Justice League wishes he’d never been born. …And it isn’t even lunchtime yet. This Elseworlds graphic novel is written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischma… |
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Retail: $ 14.95 Your Price: $14.95 Buy/More Info |
If I Were In NYC, I’d Go To This
Jeff Loeb tried to cram too much into these stories. There is no pacing and no build up to the character. Its like he was saying here is the new Supergirl so just accept her. And I have to question the way he handles this story. Why is Superman such a wim
Popularity: 4% [?]
This is a story best read in one complilation as opposed to each issue coming out on a monthly basis. (archie comic book)
This is a story best read in one complilation as opposed to each issue coming out on a monthly basis.
neffi1uk posted a photo:
For those who saw my little moan about space this is part of the problem. There is another row of 10 comic boxes that you cannot see.
NONE of these books are mine.
On top of all this, the writing is melodramatic enough to make Jeph Loeb wince. It opens, for instance, on a six to eight page flashback of Ruin’s previous attacks played on tape , with a monologue from Lois explaining the rationale behind Ruin’s strat
DC Archives - Superman Vol. 7 HC
DC Archives - Superman Vol. 7 HC
 The Golden Age of Superman hits its stride in Superman Archives Vol. 7, reprinting Superman #25-29 (1943-1944)! With World War II heating up, Superman fights subversion and sabotage at home while foiling villains like the Toyman and the Prankster…. |
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Retail: $ 49.99 Your Price: $49.99 Buy/More Info |
Batman: The Movies TPB
 A collection of all the official comic adaptations of the Warner Borthers Batman movies, Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin. … |
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Retail: $ 19.95 Your Price: $19.95 Buy/More Info |
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Superman #651 (Sketch Cover)
 Don’t miss Part 3 of the 8-part ‘Up, Up and Away,’! This issue features guest stars galore, including Supergirl, The Prankster, Lex Luthor, the all-new Flea Circus and more as the Man of Steel mulls over an incredible offer - with incredible ramifications - from Green Lantern. Meanwhile, the Flea Ci… |
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Retail: $ 2.50 Your Price: $2.50 Buy/More Info |
Popularity: 6% [?]
Comic guru (cal massey comic book art) crutchead speaks.
Comic guru crutchead speaks.
Welcome, Helena Sophia Zura!
Congratulations to the lovely Janet Munger and my old fanta-flatmate Greg Zura, one of the best people in comics, bar none.
If I Were In Baltimore, I’d Go To This
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Batman & Mr Freeze: Sub Zero
Please visit the Things From Another World website for product details…. |
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Retail: $ 9.97 Your Price: $7.98 Buy/More Info |
CR Review: Hello, Me Pretty
Creators: Line Gamache
Publishing Information: Conundrum Press (BDang), soft cover, 64 pages, May 2007, $15
Ordering Numbers: 189499423X (ISBN10)
The first book in Conundrum Press’ new graphic novel imprint BDang, Hello, Me Pretty is a translated version of the 2005 graphic novel Te Malade, Toi!. The story of a family with a mentally disabled youngest daughter (Josee) as it weaves in and out of local Montreal history of the late 1960s through the 1980s, Gamache’s autobiographical story first and foremost offers readers an appealing art style that lies somewhere between Mark Beyer and Debbie Drechsler. Despite the highly stylized and almost grotesque take on character design, Hello, Me Pretty is an almost exhaustingly upbeat work. It insists from the start that Josee and others like her are angels visited upon the family, a fact which is asserted and supported by some side notions like guardian angels drawn into the narrative, but a take that’s never tested by the narrative. Josee’s wonderful nature is so much an ingrained part of the story’s DNA we have no choice but to accept the author’s word for it. It’s not necessary, of course, that this work show the hassles and second thoughts that beset the family of Paul and Judy Karasik in The Ride Together, a book dealing with the same subject in a different family. It’s more that one can’t shake the feeling that Hello, Me Pretty would be much stronger if more attention were given to the intricacies of its family relationships, if a case for the family’s ability to function was made rather than assumed. What’s strange is that more time is given the matriarch’s struggle with cancer or the more standard teenage rebellion that shakes the household than the role Josee plays at home. She’s observed at several times throughout the book, but we geet few chances to see her engaged and involved.
The other difficulty in the work arises from uneven narrative flow. The first 13 pages of the work feel like they’re from a different book altogether, with their intimate portrayal of a child’s view of her mother’s problems at the hospital and their strong, assured pacing. Everything after that seems to tumble forward, a series of spills rather than a controlled flow. For instance, a significant amount of space is given over to instances of Josee walking away from home or school: her adventures. We see enough of these that information is repeated, so that it seems like a build to a sizable payoff. Then that subplot suddenly ends. Other moments paint an incomplete picture. When Josee’s maternal notions are described, it opens up questions regarding sex and intimacy that we really hadn’t seen until then. While excellent art never seeks to push for a conclusion or a summary statement or even significant meaning, the satisfying and blessed life we’re told exists lacks definition. That we take it so much about that life on faith indicates how much we’re happy for it to be true. What could have been a remarkable work ends up merely a visually arresting one told from an interesting perspective.
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Robin Hood Of The Pecos
Please visit the Things From Another World website for product details…. |
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Retail: $ 9.98 Your Price: $7.98 Buy/More Info |
It’s A Bird. . .HC
 Steve’s professional life has never looked brighter. He’s been offered the chance to chronicle the adventures of the world’s most famous hero: Superman. His personal life, though, has taken a turn for the worse: His father has gone missing, his mother is beside herself with worry, and a grim secret … |
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In 2004, with the success of SMALLVILLE and the forthcoming release of SUPERMAN RETURNS, the good folks at DC Comics decided it was time for Superman’s origins to be re invented for the first time since John Byrne’s popular THE MAN OF STEEL series in th
Popularity: 4% [?]
Witch Hunter Robin: Vol 4 (illustrator superman comic books) Fugitive
Witch Hunter Robin: Vol 4 Fugitive
Witch Hunter Robin: Vol 4 Fugitive
 Please visit the Things From Another World website for product details…. |
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13th Son: Worse Thing Waiting #3 (of 4)
13th Son: Worse Thing Waiting #3 (of 4)
 Created, written, and drawn by horror virtuoso Kelley Jones ( Batman, Deadman, The Dark Horse Book of the Dead, Last Train to Deadsville ), The 13th Son tells the story of the world’s ultimate monster hunter - a creature far more horrific and terrible than any of the monsters it hunts! The third iss… |
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If your a fan of Superman, Batman or comics in general, give this one a shot, you won’t regret it.
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
DC Comics Presents: Batman #1 (Signed by Geoff Johns)
DC Comics Presents: Batman #1 (Signed by Geoff Johns)
 Signed by writer Geoff Johns! The first of eight weekly-shipping comics that pay homage to the late Julie Schwartz and one of his fondest creations: the cover-driven story! The cover to Batman #183 inspires two different stories of a seeming ‘couch potato’ Dark Knight by Geoff Johns & Joe Staton… |
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Jakks Pacific Toymax Batman Tv Game
From the dark alleys and grim side streets of Gotham City comes The Batman TV Games. Play as the Dark Knight using all of your gadgets, vehicles and night-crawling abilities in 25 harrowing episodes to save Gotham City. Requires 4 “AA” batteries (not included).
Features:
- Defend Gotham City in 25 different locations spread across 5 episodes
- Defeat The Joker, The Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze or Firefly to advance
- Engage in hand-to-hand combat, platform adventure, driving, vehicular combat and detective work
- Come back to unfinished games with a memory save option
- Practice hand-to-hand combat moves including jabs, hooks, kicks, punches and more
- Control many of Batman’s experimental gadgets like flame throwers and bat-gloves
- Acquire special power moves after filling your ‘Hero’ meter
- Enjoy different levels: Crime fighter (Easy), Caped Crusader (Medium) and Dark Knight (Hard)
Toy:
25 episodes: Defend Gotham City in 25 different locations spread across 5 episodes,5 super villains: At the end of each episode, you must defeat The Joker, The Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze or Firefly to advance to the next,5 gameplay styles: Hand-to-hand Combat, platform adventure, driving, vehicular combat and Detective work
Company:Jakks
(2006-06-01)
List Price:$19.99
Amazon Price:$17.50
We meet Clark Kent celebrating another birthday in a small town in Kansas. His dad thought it would be neat to have a famous name and his mother thinks it it fun that there are all these toys about her son, but this Clark Kent has never found any of it t
Supergirl 12oz Coffee Mug
This mug featuring the Supergirl logo in vibrant pink and blue will brighten up any table. Inside of the mug reads “Respect the S”. Mug holds 12 oz of your favorite beverage.
:
Hot Superman and Supergirl Merchandise Only at CoolTShirtsOnline.com, your Superman Superstore!
Company:Vandor
List Price:
Amazon Price:$7.75
MARVEL HEROS POWER POP
MARVEL HEROS POWER POP
POP, SHOOT & SCORE
PRESS BUTTON POP UP ACTION
SPIDERMAN
STORM
XMEN
WOLVERINE
Misc.:
MARVEL HEROS POWER POP 12/.92oz POPS,5-STAR RATING EARNED FOR:
FAST SHIPPING
PRICING
CUSTOMER SERVICE
PRODUCT FRESHNESS,AVERAGE ORDER TRANSIT DAYS:
PACIFIC 4-5
MOUNTAIN 3-4
CENTRAL 2-3
EASTERN 1-2,SEE SHIPPING POLICY FOR SUMMER ORDERS
IF ORDER DOES NOT SHIP IN 24 HOURS YOU WILL BE CONTACTED,WE SHIP UPS FOR THEIR RELIABILITY, RAPID DELIVERY, AND TRACKING OVER USPS
Company:MARVEL
List Price:$24.00
Amazon Price:$4.00
Popularity: 3% [?]
Lying (personal comic book store) In The Gutters
Lying In The Gutters
Will Dan Dare be making a come back in comics? Who may be writing him? Rich has some news, plus the new writer of “Excalibur,” the deal with “New Avengers” #31, who may be writing DC’s next major event, the “Casanova” mix-up that ended up being a plus and much more.
Batman, The: The 1943 Serial Collection (2 discs)
Batman, The: The 1943 Serial Collection (2 discs)
 Please visit the Things From Another World website for product details…. |
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“Beowulf” Coming to Theaters and Comics
This October, IDW Publishing Presents a Special Four-part Adaptation of the Film Written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary and Directed by Robert Zemeckis
I do have one minor complaints though. It is very strongly bound to Superman continuity even if an alternatre version and a lot of non fans might have trouble following the story because many characters basically have cameos. This is due to the fact t
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Oddball Comics: Picture Progress Vol. 1, No. 7
From the same fine folks who brought you the original CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED comes PICTURE PROGRESS, an educational funnybook that explains and explores “The Four Seasons” - and which cover-stars a tree! Thrill to the renewal of life that comes with Spring! Squeal with the pleasures of Summer! Gasp at the transforming colors of Fall! Delight at the chilly wonderment of Winter! Yep, this comic is so gosh-darn normal, it’s positively Oddball!
PICTURE PROGRESS was an educational giveaway comic that was distributed through various school systems, both public and private. Here’s a complete list of the themes for each issue of PICTURE PROGRESS published between January, 1954 and October, 1955:
Vol. 1, No. 5: “News In Review”
Vol. 1, No. 6: “The Birth Of America”
Vol. 1, No. 7: “The Four Seasons”
Vol. 1, No. 8: “Paul Revere’s Ride”
Vol. 1, No. 9: “The Hawaiian Islands”
Vol. 2, No. 1: “The Story Of Flight”
Vol. 2, No. 2: “Vote For Crazy River (The Meaning Of Elections)”
Vol. 2, No. 3: “Louis Pasteur”
Vol. 2, No. 4: “The Star Spangled Banner”
Vol. 2, No. 5: “News In Review”
Vol. 2, No. 6: “Alaska: The Great Land”
Vol. 2, No. 7: “Life In The Circus”
Vol. 2, No. 8: “The Time Of The Cave Man”
Vol. 2, No. 9: “Summer Fun”
Vol. 3, No. 1: “The Man Who Discovered America”
Vol. 3, No. 2: “The Lewis & Clark Expedition”
It’s interesting to note that, despite its rather inventive, four-way cover design, the artwork in this issue of PICTURE PROGRESS is about as blandly institutional as humanly possible, without a single word balloon or specific character. This may be due to its educational nature, but more likely, was intended to distance itself from newsstand “funnybooks” that, in 1954, were then-currently the target of psychologist Dr. Frederic (SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT) Wertham’s demonizing of comic books in general.
The title of this 24-page (plus covers) giveaway comic’s cover-story is “The Four Seasons”. It opens with this intro:
INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
All living things - human beings, animals, plants and insects - change with the changing seasons. Have you ever wondered why we have seasons?
Then, with a series of diagrams of the relative positions of Earth and sun, the cause of the four seasons is explained:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
The seasons are caused by the way the sun shines upon the earth. The earth spins around on a make-believe line we call the axis. See how the earth leans over to one side. It takes one full day (24 hours) for the earth to spin all the way around on its axis. The sun can only shine on half the earth at one time. That is shy we have day while the other half of the earth is having night. As the earth is spinning on its axis, it is also moving all the way around the sun. It takes a whole year (365 days) to make this trip. As the earth moves around the sun, the sun shines upon it in different ways during the year. This is what causes us to have seasons. Summer is hot because we have the heat and light of the sun directly over us. It gets cooler in the autumn because our part of the earth is moving away from the direct sunlight. Winter is the coldest part of the year. That is when our part of the earth is furthest from the direct heat of the sun. In the spring, the weather gets warmer because we have moved back toward the direct sunshine. Now let us see what happens on our part of the earth during the four seasons.
The second chapter of this issue of PICTURE PROGRESS is titled “Spring Begins March 20″. We’re shown how the snow and ice melts and the ground defrosts and softens, “making it ready for nature to awaken”. As sap flows within trees and plants, blossoms begin to appear, attracting bees from their honeycomb. The bees bring back nectar to their queen, who then lays approximately 4,000 eggs, one of which will someday become the new queen. We see how beavers build dams on water-swollen rivers, and a mother chipmunk digs a series of interconnected warrens and tunnels. A pair of robins, having migrated back from a winter spent in the South, builds their next in a tree. After the mama bird lays her eggs, she and the father bird takes turns sitting on the eggs and foraging for food until their babies hatch. With the weather turning warmer, farmers plant seeds that will become their crops. Elsewhere, on a pond’s surface, a bullfrog suns himself and hunts for tiny fish, while a mother frog lays her eggs at the pond’s muddy bottom. Soon, her eggs will hatch into tadpoles. In the world of humans, life’s activities accelerate as well:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
We have seen the beginning of spring in the country. But spring also comes to the city. The stores have new spring clothes. The baseball season starts in Washington, D.C. The President of the United States usually throws out the first ball. As the days get warmer and longer, children play outside until evening. Son the school children will begin their summer vacation.
The third chapter, “Summer Begins June 21″, starts with a montage of summertime activities — including what looks like scowling gonzo journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson spending a day at the beach! Meanwhile, the clutch of eggs of those robins that we met earlier have finally hatched, and their baby chicks have grown to an age when “summer school” is necessary to teach them to fly and dig for worms. Elsewhere, a hungry bear raids the bees’ honeycomb. By night, beavers train their young to gnaw down trees, while chipmunk babies evade a weasel by hiding in their underground next. In the nearby pond, the tadpoles have matured into full-grown frogs. The queen bee and her subjects abandon their honeycomb, leaving it to their industrious offspring. The next chapter, “Autumn Begins August 23″, opens with this update on farm life:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Our part of the earth is now leaning away from the sun. Both man and animal store food and patch up their homes for the coming winter. The farmer harvests his crops. The housewife cans food for the winter. Storm windows go up. Children go back to school.
Meanwhile, the beavers and the chipmunks prepare for winter, gathering stores of wood and nuts in their respective hiding-holes. Many birds prepare to migrate south, leaving their summer homes, although sparrows, crows and hawks remain in their nests for the rest of autumn and winter.
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
The cooler weather comes. The leaves on the trees turn red, brown and gold. They begin to fall off. Then, one windy night, the trees stand bare.
Field mice move into abandoned nests, while the bees gather together inside their honeycomb to avoid freezing to death. The chipmunks and the beavers hunker down in their nests until spring. The frogs hibernate in the mud at the bottom of their pond to keep warm beneath the frozen ice. Rabbits fur changes color to white, protective coloration to allow them to hide from their predators. The rising winds are filled with millions of seeds, destined to sprout in the spring. As “Winter Begins December 22″, this comic’s fifth and final chapter, opens, nearly all of the animals we’ve seen earlier are in hiding or in hibernation, emerging from their homes only when it’s necessary to gather food. A white rabbit is nearly killed by a hungry fox, but it manages to scamper back into its underground warren. Meanwhile, civilization adjusts to the harsher conditions:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Winter comes to the city, covering the gray buildings and the bare trees with a frosty, fairyland cloak. The park lakes freeze and become a winter playground. Night comes early. The street lights throw shadows on the empty sidewalks, while the people stay in their warm homes and wait for spring to come.
Also included in this issue of PICTURE PROGRESS are these features:
- An untitled, black-and-white inside-front-cover activity page, challenging the reader to unscramble the letters of the names of six flowers and six birds.
- “Picture Progress Quiz”, six illustrated questions relating to the contents of this comic.
- “Things To Do”, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover activity page, with a project “for boys” (a baseball diamond game) and one “for girls” (homemade sewing cards).
- “Do You Know That”, a back-cover feature with such educational tidbits as “The sun always shines directly on the equator, which is at the middle of the earth. That is why it is always summertime at the equator”, “It would take an airplane flying at 150 miles an hour nearly 71 years to go from the earth to the sun”, “Winter is an old German word meaning ‘time of water.’ This is because of all of the snow and rain that fall during this time of year”, and “Many, many years ago, men would look up at the stars and know when the seasons were going to change”.
ODDBALL Factoid - Although Robert Overstreet’s COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE lists PICTURE PROGRESS as a continuation of Gilberton’s PICTURE PARADE, according to the author of PICTURE PARADE No. 1’s “Andy’s Atomic Adventure”, it was actually a competing title!
Bazooka Classic Cartoons: Superman V 3
Bazooka Classic Cartoons: Superman V 3
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The build up to the identity of Lois’ shooter is much more interesting than the actual reveal, but in the end, the identity of Ruin will shock you. and that’s really what this book is all about.
Flash Annual #13
 Warehouse Find — We don’t normally offer less-than-mint-condition books for sale, but with the continued demand for back issues, we’ve decided to add our Warehouse backstock to our website. The majority of our comics are in mint condition, but there are some with minor dings. We will accept no retu… |
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Popularity: 5% [?]
Missed It: Conundrum Starts GN (art comic book community) Line
Missed It: Conundrum Starts GN Line
Somehow it totally escaped my attention that Canada’s Conundrum Press has started a graphic novel imprint within their already intensely comics-friendly line-up. That imprint is called BDang (backed by overlapping word balloons that separate the B, D, and ang) and that its first release is an English-language version of Te malade, toi! Line Gamache’s 2004 account of growing up in the ’60s with her mentally disabled sister, called Hello, Me Pretty. From what I can tell, this gives them a place to put the more recognizably straight-forward comics work, as I’ve seen a couple of books that are partially comics or that offer some cartooning that don’t seem to carry the new imprint’s name.
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
DC Archives - Batman: The Dark Knight Vol. 3 HC
DC Archives - Batman: The Dark Knight Vol. 3 HC
 The Dark Knight faces some of his greatest foes in classic tales of the Golden Age — some never before reprinted — in BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT ARCHIVES Volume 3. This handsome hardcover volume features some surprising tales of Batman and Robin, including a classic holiday tale from 1942! From a sem… |
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Batman Begins: Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow Mini-Statue
Batman Begins: Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow Mini-Statue
 Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight’s emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents’ murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those wh… |
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I tried to tolerate it personally as a comic book fan back then in spite of all the changes, and try to accept them as a very clever and valid means to revise the characters thus in particular to the SUPES conundrum, Lois Lane’s not as doty dumbness an
Happy 44th Birthday, Wataru Yoshizumi!
Batman: Hydro Suit Batman Action Figure
Batman: Hydro Suit Batman Action Figure
 The Hydro Suit Batman figure stands approximately 6 1/2-inches-tall. He comes with a dive pack, breathing mask, and missile launcher. Recommended for ages 4 and up…. |
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CR Review: Wait, You’re Not a Centaur
Creator: Nate Denver
Publishing Information: La Mano, softcover, 120 pages, October 2006, $16
Ordering Numbers: 0976525526 (ISBN10), 9780976525523 (ISBN13)
Nate Denver’s late-2006 book effort Wait, You’re Not a Centaur flattered both Denver and Zak Sally’s publishing company La Mano, although maybe not the way they and some of their fans might think. This book of microfiction mixed with sketchbook drawings doesn’t feel like a breath of fresh air. I think the sentiment and approach will be familiar to most readers of this site. The illustrations will remind many of the Fort Thunder predilection for the junkiest corners of pop culture 1978-1994, the act of making clever summary statements in lieu of slowly-developed, lengthy and humorous stories should be familiar to anyone who’s read a writer young than 40 in a bookstore or places like the McSweeney’s web site, and the act of mixing writing with illustration is only radical if you’ve embraced a vision for comics that leaves out James Thurber and everyone that came after reminiscent of Thurber.
What Wait, You’re Not a Centaur offers up isn’t so much novelty — although it would make a fine gift book, and you might bookmark its catalog page for potential future purchases, particularly if you buy a lot of presents for young, literate people — but more of a consistently high level in its execution. I find Denver’s work to be appealing; micro-micro stories like the following communicate a smart kid’s cosmology and then follow the results to either acerbic interruptions of that world view or all the way to their sad, adult viewpoint conclusions. Mostly they’re cute:
One night the wind blew so fast that it circled the earth and caught up with its tail. The front joined the back creating a wind loop around Earth with no beginning or end. Many windmills were placed in the wind-loop for electricity and rides and three people were decapitated.
The drawing is equally adorable, an array of robots and animals and monsters that feel like a sick 12-year-old’s breakfast table jottings from a cracked-spine copy of the Monster Manual, a Deviled Ham sandwich growing stale set off to one side. There are a dozen or so baroque and design-intensive presentations that hint at more sophisticated artistic talent, but the heart of the book’s visuals are crude and therefore familiar and accessible. Since they do roughly the same thing, the drawings and the words mix together in a way that easily allows you question to the interplay between them, affording the book a bit of depth. Given the handsome book design, the overall impact proves considerable when the slightest letdown in any area might have made the work seem cheap or tossed off. There’s even a multiple-song CD in the back, of full-album length.
Wait, You’re Not a Centaur suggests that Zak Sally’s La Mano may have something to offer comics that’s a big more Highwater than high profile, books that flatter the subject matter in a way that goes behind providing an attractive surface to make the case for projects being worth a look. That’s not a bad place to be.
Popularity: 4% [?]
(Examples of comic books) This TPB features Lex Luthor as bad as he can be, a cast of great guest stars, funny moments, and some series beat downs and battle scenes.
This TPB features Lex Luthor as bad as he can be, a cast of great guest stars, funny moments, and some series beat downs and battle scenes.
Lt Robin Crusoe Usn
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Missed It: Conundrum Starts GN Line
Somehow it totally escaped my attention that Canada’s Conundrum Press has started a graphic novel imprint within their already intensely comics-friendly line-up. That imprint is called BDang (backed by overlapping word balloons that separate the B, D, and ang) and that its first release is an English-language version of Te malade, toi! Line Gamache’s 2004 account of growing up in the ’60s with her mentally disabled sister, called Hello, Me Pretty. From what I can tell, this gives them a place to put the more recognizably straight-forward comics work, as I’ve seen a couple of books that are partially comics or that offer some cartooning that don’t seem to carry the new imprint’s name.
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Summer Con Season 2007 Kicks Off
The summer third of the comics convention season kicked off over the weekend in Philadelphia, with Wizard World Philadelphia, and in Charlotte, North Carolina with long-time professional favorite Heroes Con. Although there’s a danger in over-reporting on conventions due to their social role and PR platform nature, they’re important comics business entities and, given the industry’s structural shortcomings, can be a significant money-maker and exposure platform for folks, too.
In terms of this last weekend, each of the prominent shows has issues. While Wizard would be happy if Philadelphia staunched the audience and status bleed of its recent shows, they’re probably too early in the reign of their new show-runners for it to be a make or break proposition. Heroes Con had a chance to build on goodwill whipped into a fury by Wizard trying to aggressively move into the region a couple of years back when that was a lot scarier in terms of its business implications. They also apparently raised exhibitor prices, which is one of those upward shifts that can be a big risk for such shows.
In terms of the Philadelphia show, Wizard has a links page up here. That’s probably more important than a usual sponsor’s link dump because Wizard’s show are structured as PR platforms for mainstream comics, with announcements as to who is working on what and the like. In terms of independent voices, Mike Manley provides three reports so far; his convention write-ups are generally among the best. His basic take on the show seems to be that it’s a lot smaller than it used to be.
Update: Manley’s concluding post on the con says he felt there were more people there than last year but still a serious decline from attendance five years ago, he wonders if the show will continue past 2008, and he makes a load of suggestions. His comment that there seemed to be fewer retailers may be the most telling thing in all of his posts. When a few years back it looked like Wizard might challenge for the overall convention season crown, which seems slightly ridiculous now, the most compelling reason given was that retailers preferred the hardcore comics-buying crowd of the Wizard shows over the Hollywood-interested casual $1-box buyers of a San Diego.
In Charlotte: I’ve always liked Ben Towle’s con reports, and he does a general write-up previewing the show followed by Friday, Saturday, and Sunday reports. I don’t know that anyone has definitively covered the show in terms of attendance and sales, but anecdotal evidence gathered in random link fashion suggests creators sold books, or otherwise had a good time.
Superman has a flat blue paint scheme rather than the series 1 metallic paint scheme.
Superman 2
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Popularity: 5% [?]
(Comic book art prices) CR Sunday Interview: Paul Karasik
CR Sunday Interview: Paul Karasik
*****
Paul Karasik’s career output may be modest in terms of pages of project, but it’s mighty when you measure their impact and effectiveness. Primarily a teacher of comics, Karasik’s remarkable adaptation/breakdown of Paul Auster’s City of Glass helped propel what might have been a forgettable project into best comics of the 20th century discussions. A memoir co-created with his sister Judy about growing up in a family where one member has autism, The Ride Together turned out to be one of the best realized books in the comics/prose blend model which has since carved out its own significant place within the world of wider comics sales. Karasik was involved with the fine Masters of American Comics exhibit which hit Los Angeles, Milwaukee and New Jersey/New York to much acclaim, is a well-known teacher of comics, and is a smart, funny and engaging writer about comics.
In I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets, Karasik shares with readers his devotion to the cult cartoonist of comic books’ “Golden Age,” Fletcher Hanks, the best way he knows how: reprinting his comics, with a short story of Karasik’s own creation in the back of the book to deal with biographical questions. Hanks may be sold as the Ed Wood of the early comics era, but he’s hardly a well-meaning incompetent like the famed film director. Hanks’ bizarre comic stories of out-sized magical super-beings roaring around and ripping into the hearts of evil people may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but to some of us they’re beautiful and raw and wonderfully expressive. It’s a joy to have them all in one place. Thank you, Paul Karasik.
*****
TOM SPURGEON: Paul, I don’t have a firm sense of how you spend your professional time. How does your work break down into your various comics-related pursuits? You teach, right? Where does a book like this fit in?
PAUL KARASIK: I have made most of my living as a teacher. This allows me to pursue projects that really mean something to me such as doing the Friday crossword puzzle with my wife who knows more about geography including the names of several crossword puzzle-friendly rivers in France.
Most of my favorite cartoonists have been journeymen; those who can go to the drawing board day after day and make consistently wonderful stuff. I simply am not a guy who is able to go into the studio on a set schedule to confront blank paper.
Instead I am a guy who can go day after day into a classroom to confront blank stares from my students. I have just completed a semester teaching Comics Narrative to a small class at RISD. It is thrilling for me to watch my students improve week-to-week. On the first day of class I made a promise to them that they would all leave class better cartoonists than when the entered. It was a promise I knew I could keep.
The class focuses on deconstructing comics into their components and then being very mindful of the manipulation of these components in creating comics. Hence, the emphasis in class is on the Process of making comics rather than the Product.
From time to time a comics project accosts me. I will be just walking down the street minding my own business when a project runs up to me, grabs me by the collar and shakes me mercilessly until I acquiesce or my dentures fall out. This is true, except the part about the dentures.
However, it seems that whenever I try to make a project come up to me and shake me by the collar, it doesn’t work. Last winter I spent fruitless days at a sidewalk cafe ogling projects and showing a bit of leg to no avail. I drank a lot of Ovaltine with nothing to show.
When something like, I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets comes along, a project that I have no choice but to work on, I become obsessed.
So, I guess to answer your question, I, myself, do not have a firm sense of how I, myself, spend my professional time, but I do have a firm sense that a four letter river that feeds the Seine is call the Aube.
SPURGEON: How did you come to be a Fletcher Hanks fan? Who made the initial discovery and presentation of this work? Was it difficult to find some of the pieces that weren’t anthologized?
KARASIK: Jerry Moriarty, the cartoonist, painter, and teacher, brought the work of Hanks to the attention of Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman during the time I spent as Associate Editor and Coffee-Maker-In-Chief at RAW Magazine. We were all immediately struck by the work and reprinted a story from Fantastic Comics #7.
Aside from a Fantomah story reprinted in Cartoonist PROfiles this had been the only Hanks story reprinted.
This is a project that, in many ways, owes its existence to the internet. Prior to the Net it would have been next to impossible to smoke out the collectors who hoard this stuff. Overall I was in contact with close to 15 collectors and the search took over three years. I began my sleuthing about the same time that the U.N Weapons Inspectors began their search for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. My task turned out to be a lot more fruitful. The big difference being that these Hanks stories really exist.
SPURGEON: At what point did your interest include putting together a book?
KARASIK: Hanks worked in comics from 1939-1941. Then he simply disappeared.
When I discovered what really happened to my “hero” Fletcher Hanks I had no choice but to tell the story (see the 16-page afterword, “Whatever Happened to Fletcher Hanks?”) and that naturally led to the notion of putting together an anthology which naturally led to four years of years of my wife reconsidering her decision to wear my ring and my daughters shaking their heads sadly and murmuring things behind closed doors about their dear demented Papa. My 89 year-old mother still thinks I’m nuts.
When I began to collect these stories I was not certain that they would, indeed, make a book. The first few that I culled were nowhere near as good as the one we reprinted in RAW. But the gems started to trickle in and after I saw my third Fantomah story that made my jaw drop, a book seemed necessary.
Fortunately we are in a golden age ourselves of comics reprints. The planets have aligned and the buyers are lining up for collections of Peanuts, Popeye, Calvin and Hobbes, Gasoline Alley (a series that I cannot recommend highly enough), and Krazy Kat. Will they line up also for the stories of Stardust the Super Wizard? If it is ever going to happen it is going to happen in 2007.
SPURGEON: Why did you go with such a straightforward presentation of Hanks’ work? There’s no written material, as I think many might expect, just Hanks’ comic and then your own.
KARASIK: I really like the work of the American painter George Bellows.
There are several books on Bellows containing lengthy essay by art historians gassing-off about why his work is so Essentially American.
This is the sound of me sleeping: “ZZZZZZZ”.
I cannot find a single book on Bellows that simply has page after page of full color reproductions of his juicy wet brushwork. I like art books that allow the work to speak for itself. Hanks’ work roars.
SPURGEON: How do you go about making an honest appraisal of the quality of the work from an artist like Hanks without simply turning it into an exercise in kitsch? Is he an Ed Wood, as some of the early takes on his work suggest, or does his work have value beyond its strangeness? What is the nature of that value?
KARASIK: This is exactly the sort of postulating that I pointedly avoided from cluttering up my book. However, in an interview like this I have no compunction about gassing-off.
The “Ed Wood of comics” line is one that gets a lot of play ’cause it’s so cute and catchy. “I Am the Walrus” is also cute and catchy, but it, too, makes no damn sense. If calling Hanks the “Ed Wood of Comics” will get a trendy youth to pick the book up at the Outsider Art Museum Bookstore, fine with me.
O.K., granted, the two guys have things in common. Principally they are auteurs who were overlooked within their lifetimes.
However, Wood was really trying to make good films as best as he knew how. To do this he tried to follow the conventions of contemporary filmmaking but on a slender budget that resulted in aspects that we find endearing today.
Hanks was trying to make comic book stories–but at a time when the conventions of the medium were not standardized. He just did what he did and collected the paycheck.
Beauty is in the stomach of the beholder. Some find this work nauseating and revolting. Some find it tangy with a hint of peppery grape. Fine to them. Some, however, find it campy and cool because it is so “stupid.” Nuts, I say, to them.
I respect the rights of other idiots to have their lame friggin’ opinions, but really, they are barking up the wrong tree if they like this work for its campiness.
The storytelling is clear. The imagery is powerful. The drawing is dynamic and, honestly, quite beautiful. What is there not to like?
SPURGEON: If Hanks work was unique and powerful, why didn’t it stand out more at the time? Was there a lot of idiosyncratic work like his? Did people simply not pay attention? What do you think it is that we see now looking back that may his peers wouldn’t have noticed about another crude comic? Or did he make an impression back then?
KARASIK: I asked Will Eisner for any impressions he might have had of Hanks. He (barely) remembered him as the guy who could not draw as well as Basil Wolverton but did all the work himself and got the work in on time. He did not recall that the stories had the power of a howitzer pointed at your temple. This may speak more about Eisner (ever the businessman) than Hanks, but I don’t think that at the time the work made any heads turn.
Frankly, the boys were too busy just filling up comic books with any artwork that they could get their ink-stained mitts on. I guess that comic books have never really changed. It’s still mostly crap.
The publishing world had changed overnight in 1938 with the publication of Action Comics #1. Suddenly dozens of comics books were born and a lot of lousy cartoonists found employment. The level of competence is extraordinarily low in those early comics. This is one of the reasons why Hanks got overlooked. It had been simply assumed that there could not be any shinola in all that shit. On a cursory glance, Hanks’ work, with its standard hero/villain pulp plots, is camouflaged by all the lurid, garish four-color packing pellets it is surrounded by.
Hanks work was not featured or spotlighted. It was generally stuck somewhere in the middle of the comic book, easy to overlook. Many of the collectors from whom I got the stories from were unaware of Hanks. Because of the volume of superficially similar stuff filling old comics it took a guy with a sharp eye, like Jerry Moriarty, to notice this work.
SPURGEON: I enjoyed your comic about Hanks’ background; is there anything about the experience of meeting his son or other ways you’ve learned a bit bout Hanks that explains the lurid quality of his work, either visually or some of the more bizarre story points? From what experience would an alcoholic sometimes-painter being working out of in your opinion to come up with some of the more alarming things in his comics?
KARASIK: The people who read it as I was working on it, particularly my sister, Judy, and the cartoonist Mark Newgarden, both steered me away from any postulating in public, but to simply present the story as I heard it.
Hanks was the son of a Minister and, as you can see, there is plenty of hellfire and brimstone blazing through these stories. He was also various other things as well and his hard-edged life plays counterpoint to the fantastic worlds he created while at the same time reflecting the bitterness of the man, himself. I hope that one of the pleasures of this book will be for readers to wade through the 15 rings of Hanksian Hell and to be surprised — and also not surprised — in my Afterword by finding out something of the personal history of the guy who created the stories.
SPURGEON: Is there anything in your personal reading of these comics that you think other people may not be as quick to pick up on, or find as important? Has your relationship to the comics changed over time?
KARASIK: In the three years that Hanks made comic book stories he completed close to 12 pages a month: writing, penciling, inking, and lettering. One extraordinary thing about Hanks’ work is that, while the plots are almost all identical, and he uses many short-cut methods to meet the constant deadline, there is very little visual repetition in these tales. At the end of I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets the reader will not feel that he has been short-changed in the graphic blitzkrieg department.
A certain air of iciness coats these stories. In Hanks’ world all objects are given equal attention. There is no loose sketchiness to his drawing: everything is in equal focus. This effect, combined with certain stiffness of character gesture, form a feeling of life in a vacuum. Even when objects are hurtling through space there is an icy detachment to the action.
This chilly atmosphere is reinforced by the characters themselves. A typical Hanks plot begins with either Stardust or Fantomah looking down, godlike, at the evil-doings of miscreants below. A detachment exists between the hero and the rest of humanity.
When justice is served it too is served coldly. And here is where the true creepiness lurks. In an airless world of no shadows there is no place to hide. Stardust does not change expression as he mangles thugs with his mighty mitts, turns them into rats or bugs, shrinks them, or makes them melt.
No, he performs these brutal acts of retribution without gritting his teeth, or, for that matter, even cracking a grim smile. Justice is not mean. Justice is not sardonic. Like everything else in the world of Fletcher Hanks: Justice just is.
SPURGEON: I want to ask you about a couple of recent big projects from which you might now be removed to the extent of having a different perspective on them. Was there anything about the way The Ride Together was received and the intimacy of that project that made doing that book a unique experience?
KARASIK: Tom, thank you sincerely for the nice things you have said in print about, The Ride Together. It was a labor of love that otherwise got very little attention in the comics community.
Unfortunately I feel that the book never made it into the hands of the people it was really made for: siblings of those with disabilities. The Ride Together came a few years too early to get embraced by librarians as part of the graphic novel bait that now stock the shelves to lure innocent teenagers to the local library. Part of the problem for librarians and bookstores was the unique format of the book: they did not know where to put it.
The Ride Together is a memoir co-written with my sister, Judy, about growing up with our oldest brother who is developmentally disabled with autism and mental retardation. Chapters in prose, written by Judy, alternate with chapters in comics, by myself, as we take the reader chronologically through our childhood and up to the present.
It was a much more personal project for me than the Hanks book and one that was more difficult and painful to create. Not only was I working with a smart collaborator with a hair-trigger Bullshit-O-Meter, but we were both uncovering material that was often uncomfortable to discuss. I was not merely sending out e-mails to collectors trying to get copies of old decaying comic books.
SPURGEON: Paul what was your specific involvement with the Masters of Comics exhibit? Did you think it traveled well to Milwaukee and New York? How do you feel about the general criticism that no female cartoonists were part of the exhibit, or Spiegelman declining to have his work shown in Newark?
KARASIK: I’ll admit to have been part of the discussion determining the Masters. I would like to underscore the notion that the title of the show was Masters of American Comics, not THE Masters of American Comics. Other groups would have made other choices.
Picking our 15 cartoonists was not an easy task. We have been accused of devising an intricate point system whereby each candidate was given a score based on a variety of exacting factors including sales, specific gravity of ego, ink preference, income from merchandise licensing, personal grooming habits, and penis size. Sorry, not true.
I think that cartoonist, Jessica Abel, summed it up honestly: “There were women comics artists, but they were not as important (as George Herriman, Winsor McCay, Chester Gould and the other 12 who made the final cut). I love Dale Messick, but was she on that level? No.”
My major contribution was the task of finding 15 great writers to write about the 15 great cartoonists. This was originally regarded as a potentially heinous task. Simply coming up with a list of potential top-notch writers who would know enough to write well about a particular cartoonist was hard enough. Then we anticipated rejections from these writers who are constantly being asked to write on demand.
But you know what? The first guy to sign on was Dave Eggers who wanted to write about his chum, Chris Ware. For some reason, after that the rest were easy.
Some of the essays are very casual, but a few really stand out. Stanley Crouch’s take on George Herriman is one of the best things ever written about the guy. Glenn Gold’s essay on Jack Kirby gets to the heart of things accurately by a guy who knows how to manhandle the English language but is a proud fanboy at heart. Pete Hamill jumped at the chance to chat about Milton Caniff whom he corresponded with and whose work he adored. It was fun to work with these people.
Art had compelling reasons to decline hanging his work in the East coast venues as he has detailed elsewhere. Frankly, given the limited space of the Jewish Museum, he did those other guys a big favor on one level by freeing up wall space.
SPURGEON: What was the physical act of putting together the collection like? Did you use old comics? Whose?
KARASIK: In pursuing these old comics I came across some very interesting collectors.
Have you noticed that when people use the word “interesting” they often mean “weird”? Actually, most of these collectors were generous enough to allow me into their comic vaults without a strip search. Have you ever had a retinal scan? Not pleasant.
Two collectors were especially generous: Jon Berk and Mark Verheiden.
While I am singing the song of the unsung heroes I must say that Paul Baresh at Fantagraphics did a fantastic job cleaning up the pages and making them look like, well, like old comic book pages. This was important. With Photoshop it is much easier these days to take the imperfections out of reprinted comics, to clean them up too much, to saturate the color. I wanted them to look as if they had just rolled off the 1939 press and Paul nailed ‘em right on the head.
Jacob Covey was a pleasure to work with in developing the design. I am very proud of the cover and overall design of the book which was a mutually satisfying collaboration. The road to publication was filled with potholes, but Kim Thompson stood by the project the whole way.
SPURGEON: You and I spoke recently about a few folks wondering if Fletcher Hanks was a prank. What do you think were responding to when that idea occurred to them?
KARASIK: What has surprised many collectors is that Hanks has been under their collective noses and few have caught a whiff. They reason, “If this guy is so damn good (or important, or weird) why haven’t I heard of him?” Several of the guys I went to for scans of original Hanks stories could not believe that I was not interested in the mint Lou Fine covers that many of these early mags sport. I wanted this strange story in the middle.
I did not realized until this hoax business happened that I had been waiting all my life to be accused of perpetrating a hoax. What a compliment!
I think I might really try my hand at real hoax perpetration some day. Not immediately, mind you, but far, far into the future when everyone has forgotten all about this interview maybe I’ll come up with some wild hoax involving the discovery of a Major Piece of Unknown Comics Americana.
SPURGEON: What’s next?
KARASIK: I’ve discovered an unpublished story by Harvey Kurtzman.
Before he jumped the Good Ship E.C., Gaines suggested that Kurtzman come up with his own “New Direction” title. All that remains of his proposal, “True Beat Magazine” is a six page adaptation of a short story by Jack Kerouac. called, “My Friend, James Dean”.
It’s based on an anecdote that Dean told Kerouac about his brief but torrid affair with Marylyn Monroe. Drawn as a kind of audition piece, Kurtzman had each of one of the six pages inked by a different artist: Page 1: Will Elder, Page 2: Jack Cole, Page 3, Jack Chick, Page 5, Ernie Bushmiller, and Page 6, 10 year-old Art Spiegelman.
In all truthfulness and honesty I must say that it is a Major Piece of Unknown Comics Americana.
*****
I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets Fletcher Hanks and Paul Karasik, Edited by Paul Karasik, Fantagraphics, softcover, 1560978392, 120 pages, $19.95.
*****
As Plato said in the “Republic”, his Utopian state needed heroes and myths to set higher standards to the people. Well, this is the standard we should follow, morally and in comics.
Happy 50th Birthday, Hilary Barta!
SUPERMAN: EXILE is a worthwhile read for any kind of Superman fan. Both pre and post Crisis aficionados will find something to like in this story. And hey, it occurs prior to Superman’s exaggerated death, so that’s a plus either way you look at it.
DC Archives - Batman: World’s Finest Vol. 1 HC
DC Archives - Batman: World’s Finest Vol. 1 HC
 The first seventeen solo adventures of Batman (and Robin) from World’s Finest Comics - most of them unseen for over 60 years with only two ever reprinted since they originally appeared - are collected here! This book collects World’s Best Comics #1 and World’s Finest Comics #s 2-16…. |
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Retail: $ 49.95 Your Price: $49.95 Buy/More Info |
If I Were In LA, I’d Go To This
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Happy 59th Birthday, Chance Browne!
Popularity: 3% [?]
Comic Books portray our fears, our desir…. (female comic book superheroes)
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
In all, a must read for any fan and worth every penny.
Happy 52nd Birthday, Brent Anderson!
Mary Jane: Homecoming #2
 ‘The Friendship Thing’ Liz has been acting snarkier than usual, and Mary Jane is determined to get some answers–even if it costs her their friendship! At the same time, Flash and Harry make an awkward attempt at revisiting a time when they were the best of friends. Check out the latest installment … |
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Retail: $ 2.99 Your Price: $2.99 Buy/More Info |
European Parliament Declines to Distribute Eisner’s The Plot to Members
Breaking story here. The presentation of the late Will Eisner’s last major work, which denounces the century-old documents accusing Jews of plotting for world control, and an accompanying essay were made to that body by the Transatlantic Institute. They were apparently refused on the grounds of being advertisements and irrelevance in terms of the parliament’s current legislative duties.
thanks, Denis Kitchen
News Free Comics Mag Launches
Alan Gardner’s caught word of a local publication that feature syndicated work in print form that the owner now hopes to take national. Someone seems to try this every ten or 15 years or so, it seems, but none of the comics-only publications has ever caught fire in a significant way. That combination makes this try worth a mention. Interestingly, News Free Comics Publisher Randy Vanfossen believes he can make a go of it with 2000 subscribers.
Popularity: 4% [?]
SUPERMAN: EXILE is a worthwhile read for any kind of Superman fan. Both pre and post Crisis aficionados will find something to like in this story. And hey, it occurs prior to Superman’s exaggerated death, (sparkplug comic books) so that’s a plus either way you look at it.
SUPERMAN: EXILE is a worthwhile read for any kind of Superman fan. Both pre and post Crisis aficionados will find something to like in this story. And hey, it occurs prior to Superman’s exaggerated death, so that’s a plus either way you look at it.
I Can’t Be The First Person To Think This
Is the marketing and PR position at Image Comics starting to become a revolving door on the level of being Spinal Tap’s drummer or what?
Outsiders Vol. 3 #27
 Batman and Katana guest-star in the explosive conclusion to ‘Tick Tock!’ Batman and The Outsiders are together again as the sins of the past blast back, forcing the team into a confrontation with a deadly terror that is not what it seems…. |
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Retail: $ 2.50 Your Price: $2.50 Buy/More Info |
Go, Look: Hulk Hogan Manga Scans
I apologize for using one of the scans, but I can’t figure out a better way to link to this
Happy 51st Birthday, Frank Cirocco!
Batman: A Death in the Family TPB
Batman: A Death in the Family TPB
 Okay. If I remember correctly, Jason Todd got caught stealing the tires from the batmobile. Sounds like somebody who’d make a trustworthy partner, doesn’t it? This book reprints the historic Batman issues #425-429 that tell the story of Robin’s death at the hands of the Joker — and some bloodthirst… |
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Retail: $ 12.95 Your Price: $12.95 Buy/More Info |
For instance, I did not read the “Hush” storyline in Batman, so I was left out on the impact a character made on this story at one point.
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
Popularity: 5% [?]
DC Archives - The Brave And The Bold Team-Up Vol. 1 HC (phoenix comic books)
DC Archives - The Brave And The Bold Team-Up Vol. 1 HC
DC Archives - The Brave And The Bold Team-Up Vol. 1 HC
 A classic new Archive Edition featuring the unforgettable pairings of Green Arrow & The Martian Manhunter, The Flash & The Atom, and more! Plus, an introduction by Michael Uslan. This edition collects THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #50-56 and 59 (Nov 1963-May 1965)… |
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Retail: $ 49.99 Your Price: $49.99 Buy/More Info |
The Comic Book is one of America’s unsung contribution to culture.
The book is really 3 4 stories in one; it is back from a time when a comic took more than 5 minutes to read. It will take you sometime to get through this, and in this case that’s a good thing.
cmccormackmaitland posted a photo:
Comic Books portray our fears, our desires and ethos.
Popularity: 4% [?]
P1000936 (heroes comic book store)
cmccormackmaitland posted a photo:
Popularity: 5% [?]
Jakks Pacific (comic books combine) Toymax Batman Tv Game
Jakks Pacific Toymax Batman Tv Game
From the dark alleys and grim side streets of Gotham City comes The Batman TV Games. Play as the Dark Knight using all of your gadgets, vehicles and night-crawling abilities in 25 harrowing episodes to save Gotham City. Requires 4 “AA” batteries (not included).
Features:
- Defend Gotham City in 25 different locations spread across 5 episodes
- Defeat The Joker, The Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze or Firefly to advance
- Engage in hand-to-hand combat, platform adventure, driving, vehicular combat and detective work
- Come back to unfinished games with a memory save option
- Practice hand-to-hand combat moves including jabs, hooks, kicks, punches and more
- Control many of Batman’s experimental gadgets like flame throwers and bat-gloves
- Acquire special power moves after filling your ‘Hero’ meter
- Enjoy different levels: Crime fighter (Easy), Caped Crusader (Medium) and Dark Knight (Hard)
Toy:
25 episodes: Defend Gotham City in 25 different locations spread across 5 episodes,5 super villains: At the end of each episode, you must defeat The Joker, The Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze or Firefly to advance to the next,5 gameplay styles: Hand-to-hand Combat, platform adventure, driving, vehicular combat and Detective work
Company:Jakks
(2006-06-01)
List Price:$19.99
Amazon Price:$17.50
Comic - Apple iPod video 30GB Hard Case iJacket - Shock Absorbent Hard Protective Faceplate Cover + FREE iPod video Screen Protector Shield
This cool iPod video 30GB iJacket Hard Case Faceplate Covers are made from shock absorbent material and protect your ipod video from scratches, and prevents your iPod video 30GB from dust. They instantly refresh and personalize your iPod video 30GB.
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FREE iPod video SCREEN PROTECTOR included,Made from shock absorbent material,Dock connector access - no need to remove the case to connect to your computer,Comes with a removable rotary belt clip and a comfortable lanyard,Works on ipod video 30GB only
Company:MyGift
List Price:
Amazon Price:$9.50
Batman Beyond - Season Three (DC Comics Classic Collection)
As the new Batman, Terry has all the high-tech gear and gadgets he needs, plus Bruce Wayne’s research skills and instincts. Season Three became the final season for the series, as Terry joined forces with the JLU (Justice League Unlimited) The series ended with the episode “Unmasked” which told the story of one of Terry’s first missions under the cowl. Experience all the suspense and excitement of the final 13 gripping adventures in a 2-disc collection featuring the fiendish villains of the city’s gritty future — and the one hero who can stop them!
DVD Features:
Interviews:“Close-Up On” — Sit down with the creative minds behind BATMAN BEYOND as they discuss their favorite moments from key episodes of the series final season: “Out of the Past”; “The Call, Part 1″; “The Call, Part 2″; “The Curse of Kobra, Part 1″
Other:“Inside Batman Beyond: Volume 3′- Join the producers of BATMAN BEYOND (Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini & Glen Murakami) and moderator Jason Hillhouse for the last installment of their in-depth panel discussion, focusing on the spectacular final season of the superhero series.
Director:
Bruce W. Timm
DVD:
Animated,Closed-captioned,Color,DVD-Video,Subtitled,NTSC
Company:Warner Home Video
(2007-03-20)
List Price:$26.98
Amazon Price:$17.94
Used Price:$19.70
Popularity: 5% [?]
(Cheap comic books) Batman Beyond - Season Three (DC Comics Classic Collection)
Batman Beyond - Season Three (DC Comics Classic Collection)
As the new Batman, Terry has all the high-tech gear and gadgets he needs, plus Bruce Wayne’s research skills and instincts. Season Three became the final season for the series, as Terry joined forces with the JLU (Justice League Unlimited) The series ended with the episode “Unmasked” which told the story of one of Terry’s first missions under the cowl. Experience all the suspense and excitement of the final 13 gripping adventures in a 2-disc collection featuring the fiendish villains of the city’s gritty future — and the one hero who can stop them!
DVD Features:
Interviews:“Close-Up On” — Sit down with the creative minds behind BATMAN BEYOND as they discuss their favorite moments from key episodes of the series final season: “Out of the Past”; “The Call, Part 1″; “The Call, Part 2″; “The Curse of Kobra, Part 1″
Other:“Inside Batman Beyond: Volume 3′- Join the producers of BATMAN BEYOND (Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini & Glen Murakami) and moderator Jason Hillhouse for the last installment of their in-depth panel discussion, focusing on the spectacular final season of the superhero series.
Director:
Bruce W. Timm
DVD:
Animated,Closed-captioned,Color,DVD-Video,Subtitled,NTSC
Company:Warner Home Video
(2007-03-20)
List Price:$26.98
Amazon Price:$17.94
Used Price:$19.70
Jakks Pacific Toymax Batman Tv Game
From the dark alleys and grim side streets of Gotham City comes The Batman TV Games. Play as the Dark Knight using all of your gadgets, vehicles and night-crawling abilities in 25 harrowing episodes to save Gotham City. Requires 4 “AA” batteries (not included).
Features:
- Defend Gotham City in 25 different locations spread across 5 episodes
- Defeat The Joker, The Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze or Firefly to advance
- Engage in hand-to-hand combat, platform adventure, driving, vehicular combat and detective work
- Come back to unfinished games with a memory save option
- Practice hand-to-hand combat moves including jabs, hooks, kicks, punches and more
- Control many of Batman’s experimental gadgets like flame throwers and bat-gloves
- Acquire special power moves after filling your ‘Hero’ meter
- Enjoy different levels: Crime fighter (Easy), Caped Crusader (Medium) and Dark Knight (Hard)
Toy:
25 episodes: Defend Gotham City in 25 different locations spread across 5 episodes,5 super villains: At the end of each episode, you must defeat The Joker, The Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze or Firefly to advance to the next,5 gameplay styles: Hand-to-hand Combat, platform adventure, driving, vehicular combat and Detective work
Company:Jakks
(2006-06-01)
List Price:$19.99
Amazon Price:$17.50
Comic - Apple iPod video 30GB Hard Case iJacket - Shock Absorbent Hard Protective Faceplate Cover + FREE iPod video Screen Protector Shield
This cool iPod video 30GB iJacket Hard Case Faceplate Covers are made from shock absorbent material and protect your ipod video from scratches, and prevents your iPod video 30GB from dust. They instantly refresh and personalize your iPod video 30GB.
:
FREE iPod video SCREEN PROTECTOR included,Made from shock absorbent material,Dock connector access - no need to remove the case to connect to your computer,Comes with a removable rotary belt clip and a comfortable lanyard,Works on ipod video 30GB only
Company:MyGift
List Price:
Amazon Price:$9.50
Supergirl 12oz Coffee Mug
This mug featuring the Supergirl logo in vibrant pink and blue will brighten up any table. Inside of the mug reads “Respect the S”. Mug holds 12 oz of your favorite beverage.
:
Hot Superman and Supergirl Merchandise Only at CoolTShirtsOnline.com, your Superman Superstore!
Company:Vandor
List Price:
Amazon Price:$7.75
Popularity: 4% [?]
(Comic books guide) Oddball Comics: Caspers Ghostland Vol. 1, No. 33
Oddball Comics: Caspers Ghostland Vol. 1, No. 33
Casper The Friendly Ghost first appeared in “The Friendly Ghost”, which was directed by Isadore Sparber. A Famous Studios theatrical cartoon short released by Paramount in 1945, it was based upon an unpublished children’s book written by Seymour Reit and illustrated by Joe Oriolo. The second cartoon to star Casper (whose actual name wasn’t established until he starred in h is own comic book) wasn’t released until 1948, but soon, an entire series of Casper cartoons were produced, making the leap from theaters (the last theatrical short was released in 1959) to television (the first made-for-television CASPER cartoon was made in 1963). St. John published the first CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST comic book in September, 1949; in 1952, Harvey Comics took over the publication of the series, and in 1959, bought the rights to the character. Soon, Harvey expanded Casper’s world, with new stories featuring the Ghostly Trio, Wendy The Good Little Witch, Spooky The Tuff Little Ghost and his long-suffering girlfriend Pearl, Hot Stuff The Devil Kid, Nightmare the ghost-horse and many others. In fact, Casper was so successful for Harvey that it wasn’t long before other publishers came up with their own “friendly ghosts”, including SUPER SPOOK, SPENCER SPOOK, TIMMY THE TIMID GHOST, HOMER THE HAPPY GHOST, SPUNKY THE SMILING SPOOK, LI’L GHOST and many others.
In 1941, three brothers - Leon, Robert and Alfred Harvey - co-founded Harvey Comics. Originally publishing a line of unremarkable anthology titles, their first big hit was THE BLACK CAT, a strip set in Hollywood starring a sexy costumed heroine. Harvey also achieved a degree of success when they took over publication of THE GREEN HORNET. But what put them on the funnybook map was their licensing of various comic strip characters, including JOE PALOOKA, BLONDIE, DICK TRACY, MUTT AND JEFF and SAD SACK, among others. By this time, Harvey had also been publishing horror, war and romance comics, but when they acquired the rights to print CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, the company’s focus began to change, and by 1957, when Harvey bought the rights to Paramount’s stable of cartoon characters, their output shifted to mostly so-called “kiddie comics”, with the exception of Joe Simon’s outlandish line of “Harvey Thrillers” during the superhero boom of the mid-1960s and BUNNY, “Queen Of The In-Crowd”, an attempt to carve off some of the teen marked dominated by Archie Comics.
All comic book muck-monsters are in one way or another derived from the title-character of Theodore Sturgeon’s 1940 short story, “It!” These include Hillman’s “The Heap” (created by Harry Stein and Mort Leav in the pages of AIR FIGHTERS COMICS No. 3, December, 1942), DC’s “Solomon Grundy” (created by Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS No. 61, cover-dated October, 1944), Marvel’s “pre-hero” monsters (including “The Glob” from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, “Taboo! The Thing From Murky Swamp!” and “The Thing CalledIt!” from STRANGE TALES and “The Creature From The Black Bog!” from TALES OF SUSPENSE) by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, DC’s “Swamp Thing” (created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson in HOUSE OF SECRETS No. 92, cover-dated June-July, 1971), Marvel’s “Man-Thing” (created by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow in SAVAGE TALES No. 1, May, 1971) and even the underground comix characters “the Turd” (created by Scott Shaw! in Ken Krueger’s GORY STORIES QUARTERLY No. 2 1/2 and “Dorrgsheett” (from Dave Gibson’s all-star DORGSHEETT DIGEST, which was entirely devoted to disgustingly gooey poo-creatures!) Just as DC Comics seemed to have an infatuation with gorillas and dinosaurs, Marvel displayed a similar attraction to muck-monsters, apparently to exploit mankind’s fear of its own fecal waste-matter. But who ever expected to find Harvey Comics - purveyors of otherwise squeaky-clean kiddie comics - to contribute to this somewhat nauseating tradition?
Harvey Comics’ “Voo Doo Doo” was designed and drawn by cartoonist Warren Kremer (6/26/1921 - 7/24/2003), whose distinctive drawing and storytelling has come to represent the house-style of Harvey Comics. The Bronx-born cartoonist was the son of a commercial sign painter, and graduated from New York’s High School Of Music and Art and the School Of Industrial Arts. Influenced by Alex (FLASH GORDON) Raymond and Hal (PRINCE VALIANT) Foster, Warren’s early work included illustrations for pulp magazines, particularly those with a theme of aviation. His first comic book gig was HAP HAZARD for Ace Comics; Warren also married the feature’s letterer, Grace. In 1948, he began a 35-year-long relationship with Harvey Comics, first illustrating horror comics, but eventually specializing in appealing “kiddie” comics such as CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, HOT STUFF THE DEVIL KID, PLAYFUL LITTLE AUDREY, RICHIE RICH THE POOR LITTLE RICH KID and STUMBO THE GIANT, among others, as well as serving as the publisher’s Art Editor. When Harvey Comics stopped producing original material in 1983, Kremer followed editor Sid Jacobson over to Marvel, where he worked on TOP DOG, PLANET TERRY, ROYAL ROY, EWOKS, FLINTSTONE KIDS and COUNT DUCKULA, among others. One day, when Warren dropped off some artwork at Marvel, staffer (and extraordinary cartoonist) Marie Severin was heard to remark, “They don’t know it, but this is the best artist who ever walked through these doors.”
There’s really only one actual Oddball aspect of this issue of CASPER’S GHOSTLAND - part of Harvey Comics’ line of 64-page “Giant Size” funnybooks — but it’s an absolute doozy! I’m referring to the three-part, 15-page “Casper The Friendly Ghost” story penciled by Warren Kremer, the first chapter of which is titled “Powfinger”. It begins as the Casper scolds the Ghostly Trio - Fatso, Fusso and Lazo*) - about making their bed. Fed up with him, the trio take a big breath and blow their immaterial housemate right through the wall! Flung outside, the friendly ghost shows a rarely-seen side of his personality, until he’s interrupted by a fancily-dressed stranger wearing a top hat:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
TrioSometimes I wish I were BIG enough toSTRANGER:
SIGN RIGHT HERE!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
HUH?STRANGER:
Sign right here and your WISHES will come TRUECASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
But I really DIDN’T wishSTRANGER:
Of COURSE you did! EVERYBODY wants something. Sign this simple contract and HAPPINESS is yours
But when Casper reads down to some indecipherable fine print, he hands the “standard wish application” back to the devilish stranger. Suddenly, the stranger’s demeanor becomes instantly irritated, annoyed that Casper’s wasting his time, as he strides off into the Enchanted Forest. Casper’s attention is drawn elsewhere, when he hears poor Gnomey the gnome yelling at a huge, hairy troll who’s sitting on top of his toadstool home. The big bully taunts Gnomey:
TROLL:
I’ve got more strength in my LITTLE FINGER than you have in your WHOLE BODY!
Fortunately for Gnomey, when Casper shows up on the scene, the frightened troll takes off, insisting that he’s not scared of ghosts. But Gnomey remains angry and frustrated, so much so that when the well-dressed stranger appears, he anxiously signs his mysterious contract. The stranger presents him with a special ring - and name:
STRANGER:
Hold out your little finger! You are now “POWFINGER”! Have fun!
Wondering what his new moniker signifies, Gnomey soon finds out, when he topples a mighty oak with one touch of his little finger! And when Casper refers to him as “Gnomey”, the little gnome uses his pinkie to “pow” the friendly ghost off of his feet, too! Now more of a bully than the troll ever was, “Powfinger” stalks away, leaving Casper to worry about the fine print in his “standard wish application”. This story’s second chapter, “Today The Swamp”, continues as Casper catches up to “Powfinger” in a particularly creepy area of the Enchanted Forest - the Scary Swamp! While “Powfinger” belligerently calls out a challenge for his troll tormentor, Casper makes nice with a .local crocodile:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
I’m Casper the friendly ghostandCROCODILE:
GHOST! Hey, WAIT A MINUTE! Who’s AFRAID of ghosts?CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
You’re NOT? I’m so GLAD!CROCODILE:
In this swamp here are things so SCARY, ghosts look like FRIENDS!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
I AM a friend!CROCODILE:
Don’t CONFUSE me! There are WEEJUMS and WOOJUMS and the DREADED VOO DOO DOO!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
BRRR! The NAMES give me the chills!
Casper asks his new friend to help him read the fine print on “Powfinger’s” contract, but even with excellent eyesight, the crocodile has the same difficulty that Casper has every time he tries to read it:
CROCODILE:
HmmmThat’s FUNNY! The HARDER you look, the SMALLER it gets!
Then a passing vulture drops in and volunteers to give it a try, claiming that vultures have the best eyesight in the world - but he’s equally frustrated by the “standard wish agreement” contract that Casper shows him:
VULTURE:
The print keeps getting SMALLER and SMALLER! What are you, some kind of a MAGICIAN?
Suddenly, Casper hears a call for help - it’s Gnomey, er, “Powfinger”, sinking in a pit of quicksand! Casper flies to his rescue, but once he’s pulled the little gnome out of the goo, he’s attacked by a gnome-hungry Weejum! But without raising a sweat, “Powfinger” knocks out the attacking Weejum with one touch of his little finger. Casper tries to get him to read the fine print on his contract, but power-hungry “Powfinger” doesn’t express the slightest interest. All he cares about is facing down the troll who bullied him earlier:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
Now, listen, Casper, and listen GOODALL MY LIFE I’ve been LITTLE and AFRAID of everybody! Now everybody’s going to be afraid of ME, POWFINGER! And I don’t CARE what the fine print saysOR YOU EITHER! TROLL!
In response to “Powfinger’s” call, the monstrous troll shows upand once again, he uses his pinkie to spectacular effect:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
TODAY the SWAMPTOMORROW the WORLD!
“Powfinger” even gets so carried away that he accidentally “pows” himself in the head! But this gaffe doesn’t seem to reduce his newly-inflated ego one bit:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
WATCH yourself, Casper! I’ve been nice to you so far because we USED to be FRIENDS! NOW HEAR THIS, SWAMP CREATURES! POWFINGER IS TAKING OVER! Any OBJECTIONS, dreaded (HA HA) Woojum?
But apparently, one of the denizens of the Scary Swamp does have an objection:
WOOJUM:
It’s the SUPERDREADED VOO DOO DOO!
The third chapter, “The Fine Print”, concludes as the other creatures of the swamp run for their lives from the dreaded Voo Doo Doo, who emerges from the murky waters. “Powfinger”, however, remains unimpressed:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
JUST A MINUTE, THERE! What’s so great about HIM?VULTURE:
You don’t KNOW about the Voo Doo Doo? He’s the great MUD CREATURE from the BOTTOM of the SWMP! If he SEIZES you in his great mud arms he’ll take you to the BOTTOM of the SWAMP and you’ll NEVER be HEARD FROM again!
With that, Voo Doo Doo attacks “Powfinger“, who’s pinkie is surprisingly ineffective against the swamp monster:
CROW:
HA HA HA, bigshot! Mud will ABSORB any impact!
But before any real damage can occur, Casper intercedes, trying to smooth things over, while unintentionally (?) luring Voo Doo Doo away from the moisture-providing swamp as it tries to grab the little ghost in its gooey arms:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
UhWait, Mr. Voo Doo Doo! Little Gnomey here didn’t MEAN any HARM!VOO DOO DOO:
ARGH!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
You see, he has this NEW POWERand I’m afraid it’s GONE to his HEAD!WOOJUM:
LOOK! The LITTLE GHOST is luring Voo Doo Doo AWAY from the POOL!WEEJUM:
He’s DRYING OUT!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
PLEASE, Mr. Voo Doo Doo! Is it GOOD for you to be so dry?VOO DOO DOO:
ARGH!
Suddenly, Voo Doo Doo accidentally trips on an exposed root and falls right on top of “Powfinger”, who shields himself with his hand. The instant that his pinkie finger comes into contact with Voo Doo Doo, it blasts the muck-monster into muddy molecules:
SFX:
POWWEEJUM:
WOW! Powfinger DESTROYED VOO DOO DOO!WOOJUM:
He is INDEED RULER of the SWAMP!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
GOLLY! Voo Doo Doo is just a MOUND of EARTH!SUNFLOWER CREATURE:
Not JUST earththat’s BEAUTIFUL TOPSOIL!
(If anyone remains unconvinced as to the fecal nature of funnybook muck-monsterswell, there’s your proof!) Suddenly, the mysterious stranger in the top hat reappears, to finally reveal the fine print of “Powfinger’s” contract — “YOU ARE MY SLAVE”! With some sort of “evil current” emanating from the tip of his cane, the mysterious stranger - no longer nearly so charming - drags away poor “Powfinger”, whose pow-ers are ineffective against his new master. Casper bravely tries to intercede on his friend’s behalf, but he’s blasted - and apparently destroyed (how do you kill a ghost?) - by the stranger’s current. “Powfinger” reacts to Casper’s death is a manner that’s probably as melodramatic as a Harvey Comic can possibly get:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
I’ll save you, GnomeyOH!GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
OH, CASPER! WAIT, MASTER! IT’S CASPER! MY FRIEND! SNIFF! OH, CASPER! I’M SO SORRY! SOB!
Driven by grief, “Powfinger” suddenly manages to generate one final “pow”, knocking his master off of his feet! As Casper slowly revives (See? You can’t kill a ghost!), the stranger demands to take back his contract:
GNOMEY:
What HAPPENED?STRANGER:
That DRATTED GHOST made you THINK of SOMEONE BESIDE YOURSELF! My magic’s no good against THAT!
Gnomey assists the still-dazed Casper to get back onto his feet:
GNOMEY:
Geeit’s nice to be able to TOUCH someone without KNOCKING him DOWN! And you know what, Casper! I don’t FEEL SMALL anymore!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
Why SHOULD you?
Also included in this issue of CASPER’S GHOSTLAND are the following stories, features and advertisements:
- A black-and-white, inside-front-cover house-ad for Harvey’s line of “Giant Size” comics, including CASPER’S GHOSTLAND, WENDY WITCH WORLD, SAD SACK LAUGH SPECIAL, RICHIE RICH SUCCESS, RICHIE RICH MILLIONS, CASPER AND NIGHTMARE, SAD SAD SACK WORLD and RICHIE RICH DOLLARS AND CENTS.
- An untitled, one-page “Casper’s Ghostland” gag-strip, penciled by Warren Kremer. Even though it’s a warm summer day, and there’s not a trace of ice on the pond, Casper uses his ghostly abilities to go ice-skating.
- An untitled, one-page “Wendy” gag-strip. When Wendy has to transport a ton of goodies to the “ghost kiddie party”, she borrows Pearl’s bow ribbon to strap herself to her flying broom.
- An untitled, one-page “Spooky” gag-strip, penciled by Howard Post. Spooky helps out poor old Gramps the ghost by filling his bag of tricks with sheer boo-power, allowing him to scare the bejabbers out of a bear.
- “Wendy, The Good Little Witch” in “Secret Agent Witch”, drawn by Marty Taras. - Wendy is so impressed with the gadgets of her favorite TV hero “Secret Agent 1478325 1/2″ that she seeks out Casper the friendly ghost to share a game of “secret agent” with her. She tells her ghostly friend to pretend that he’s a bad guy and to take her wand away from her. But before he can comply, a nasty ogre interrupts them and grabs Wendy’s wand. Fortunately for them, Wendy had previously put a spell on a prickly cactus to make it appear to be her wand! When the mean ogre recovers from his wounds, he grabs Wendy and shakes her upside-down to dislodge her wand. But again, Wendy has a trick in store for him; the wand multiplies itself into a huge stack of exact duplicates, with Wendy hanging onto the original. When the ogre chases and corners them, Wendy transforms herself and Casper into a pair of ferocious wild bobcats, who scratch and tear at the ogre until he runs away. (In a confusing leap of logic, Wendy and Casper then thank the two bobcats for their help!) Finally, Wendy gives one of her spare wands to Casper. When it turns into a banana, Casper peels it and tosses away the peel, claiming “Well, at least this weapon won’t hurt anyone!” But when a passing pink bunny rabbit slips on the peel, he pointedly challenges Casper’s assertion.
- “A Tale Of TV”, a 3/4-page text-story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “The Proud King”, a 34-page text story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for SAD SACK, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “Spooky The Tuff Little Ghost” in “Basic Training”, drawn by Warren Kremer. - Spooky’s startled awake when a huge boot falls on his bed, nearly crushing him. He wonders if a passing giant has somehow lost his shoe, but he soon discovers that it’s just the misguided handiwork of Ginger, a young witch whose witchy aunt is attempting to train her in the black arts. When the little witch nearly destroys the roof of Spooky’s house while practicing broom-flying, he vows to get even - but the old witch sends his own “boo” back against him! Determined, Spooky “fights fire with fire” by recruiting his own young student, a little ghost named Fireball, to learn “how to be a ghost”. When the little ghost slaps Ginger in the face, she retaliates by casting a spell to give him gigantic ears. Instead, the neophyte mini-witch’s magic adds giant ears to Spooky’s house. Then, when she tries to transform the kid ghost’s head into a chimney, all she accomplishes is to add two extra chimneys onto the roof of Spooky’s cabin. When the old witch interrupts Ginger and Fireball competitive game of magical hide-and-seek, the little witch hurls a spell at Spooky’s ghostly student - which promptly turns him into a blue witch! This - and the fact that his house is now nearly unrecognizable (somewhere along the way it acquired a pair of giant bat-wings!) — disgusts Spooky to the point that he gives up on his original plan and opts, instead, to “raise the roof” - literally! He belts out such a resounding “Boo!” that it hurls his cabin high into the air, and upon landing, it completely re-builds itself in its original form. Spooky’s boo-blast also has the desirable effect of chasing away Ginger and her witchy auntie, but he still has to contend with Fireball, who’s still a witch. But when his young student insists on more lessons in how to be a ghost, Spooky is only too glad to cooperate. The final panel of this story shows Spooky chasing Fireball, driving his young charge ahead of him with one big “boo” after another.
- An untitled, one-page “Spooky” gag-strip, penciled by Howard Post. Crossing a desert, Spooky takes refuge from the sun inside a giant’s shoe; when its owner returns, Spooky gets rid of him with a really big “Shoo!” (This is a reference to TV variety host Ed Sullivan.)
- An untitled, one-page “Spooky” gag-strip, penciled by Howard Post. Flying through Witches’ Valley, Spooky blasts a green-faced witch with a big “Boo!”, giving her hair the “electrified” look she’s been trying to achieve.
- An untitled, one-page “Casper” gag-strip, penciled by Warren Kremer. Poor Mr. Bear is suffering from insomnia, but when he realizes that Casper is a ghost, he faints — and finally gets a good night’s sleep in the process.
- “Flash Farrell Gets The Picture At Goodyear Aerospace”, a strip-ad — drawn by Neal Adams — for Goodyear bicycle tires.
- “Casper The Friendly Ghost” in “The Mysterious Statue”, penciled by Warren Kremer. - This is the first of a three-part storyline; it begins when Casper drops by the Ghostly Trio’s house, only to find them practicing for a “scare raid”. Unwilling to participate in this - or their game of “peek-a-BOO” - Casper heads over to see his friend, Wendy the good little witch. On the way, he bumps into Something, a mischievous little ghost he knows. Together, they pay a visit to Wendy, who’s been whipping up a batch of “yummy”-smelling witches’ brew. Something watches her uses her magic want to conjure up a jar of spices to mix into some cake batter. Then he grabs her wand and gestures with it, hoping to conjure up some goodies, but instead, he accidentally uses the magic wand to turn its master into a stone statue! And making matters even worse, Something accidentally drops Wendy’s magic wand into Wendy’s blazing fireplace, burning it to a cinder. If they can’t replace the wand, it looks like Wendy is doomed to being a statue for all time! Fortunately, Casper has an idea. Through a series of flashbacks (a potentially-confusing-to-young-readers storytelling device that Harvey Comics usually avoided), we’re shown how Wendy was given the wand after saving old Greta The Sorceress in gratitude for saving her from a mean bear up on Magic Mountain. Determined to change their friend back into flesh and blood, Casper and Something set out across the Burning Desert toward Magic Mountain. (To be continued.)
- An untitled, two-page “Ghostly Trio” gag-strip, penciled by Warren Kremer. The trouble-making Ghostly Trio invades a costume party, but the guests are scared a bit - they think the ghosts are merely in disguise. But when the Trio gives up and start to fade out, they accidentally scare everyone, to their great mutual delight.
- “Casper The Friendly Ghost” in “Magic Mountain”, penciled by Warren Kremer. - Continuing the storyline from “The Mysterious Statue”, Casper and Something the ghost manage to cross The Burning Desert and ascend to the top of Magic Mountain, where they discover a huge medieval castle that’s protected by a thick, invisible barrier. Unable to enter it, they take an alternate route, but run afoul of a huge and overaggressive crow. But when Something’s frightening-sounding crying triggers an avalanche, the crow decides to take off. Casper and Something cleverly take shelter from the rockslide by hiding within the boulder. The next impediment to their progress is a field full of hungry giant man-eating flowers, but Casper and Something easily avoid it by flying above the famished flora. As they approach the castle’s front gate, they find it guarded by a “great big pussy cat” — a grumpy lion. After the mischievous little ghost yanks its tail, the lion chases Something back into the field of carnivorous flowers. When Something is swallowed by a particularly aggressive breed of the perilous posies, he uses his ghostly powers to become immaterial and escape. But when the lion gets gobbled up as well, sympathetic Casper uses a sprig of goldenrod to make his flowery captor to sneeze, setting free the grateful feline — who now volunteers to take them to Greta The Sorceress. (To be continued.)
- A page featuring two ads: one for “GRIT, America’s Greatest Family Newspaper”; the other for “Power Binoculars” available through mail-order from “Hi-Power”.
- A house-ad for various Harvey Comics, including CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, LITTLE AUDREY AND MELVIN, HOT STUFF, SAD SACK, TUFF GHOSTS, DEVIL KIDS, PLAYFUL LITTLE AUDREY, LITTLE SAD SACK, HARVEY HITS featuring “G.I. Juniors”, BABY HUEY AND PAPA, LITTLE LOTTA, LITTLE DOT DOTLAND, BABY HUEY, SAD SACK AND SARGE, SPOOKY THE TUFF LITTLE GHOST, RICHIE RICH, WENDY THE GOOD LITTLE WITCH, LITTLE DOT and CASPER’S GHOSTLAND.
- A one-page “Rocky And Bullwinkle” strip-ad for General Mills’ “Cheerios” breakfast cereal.
- A house-ad for Harvey’s line of “Giant Size” comics, including TV CASPER AND COMPANY, SAD SAD SACK WORLD, LITTLE LOTTA IN FOODLAND, LITTLE AUDREY TV FUNTIME, LITTLE DOT’S AUNTS AND UNCLES, STUMBO TINYTOWN, RICHIE RICH DOLLARS AND CENTS, BABY HUEY DUCKLAND, SAD SACK LAUGH SPECIAL, HOT STUFF SIZZLERS, RICHIE RICH MILLIONS, SPOOKY SPOOKTOWN, CASPER’S GHOSTLAND and WENDY WITCH WORLD.
- “Casper The Friendly Ghost” in “Greta The Sorceress”, penciled by Warren Kremer. - Continuing the story from “Magic Mountain”, this final chapter begins as Casper introduces himself and Something to Greta The Sorceress. She mistakes them for evil spirits, and when Casper tells he that Wendy needs a replacement for the destroyed wand that Greta once gave her, the sorceress thinks they’re trying to trick her. Distracted while she looks through a book of spells to banish the “evil” ghosts, Greta doesn’t notice when Casper and Something turn themselves invisible. But when Something tries to hide inside an old vase (”to be doubly safe”), he knocks it over and reveals their presence to Greta. The green-skinned sorceress goes to her magic mirror to help locate her uninvited guests, but when Casper whispers a suggestion in her ear - one that Greta assumes is a “brainstorm” - she asks to see Wendy. Seeing that Casper was telling the truth all along, Greta takes him and Something upstairs, where she shows them an entire trunk of wands! Something eagerly grabs one of them and tries to concoct some magic, but without success. Greta explains that she hasn’t yet put the magic into the wand yet. After blasting it with her powers of sorcery, Greta uses it to materialize an elephant, then turn it into a tiny mouse, then transform Something into an elongated giant! Thanking Greta, Casper and Something return to the Enchanted Forest, where Casper uses the new magic wand to undo Something’s near-tragic error. And once Wendy is restored to normal, the first thing she does is use her new wand to place a “magic circle” around Something to keep him out of further mischief!
- “The Great Lesson”, a 3/4-page text-story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for RICHIE RICH, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “Casper’s Diary”, a 3/4-page text-story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for HOT STUFF, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “Spooky The Tuff Little Ghost” in “Loyal To Poil”, penciled by Howard Post. - Appalled after witnessing Spooky scare a cow into climbing a tree, his ghostly girlfriend Pearl issues an ultimatum — unless Spooky can go an entire day without scaring anyone, she refuses to date him any more! Intimidated by her dictate, Spooky manages to resist scaring a passing bear who’s carrying a big stack of packages. But when Pearl sees Spooky’s impressive feat of self-control, she lets out a squeal of delight, revealing herself to the bear - and scaring the daylights out of him! Unaware that Pearl was the cause of this, Spooky worries that she’ll blame him. Embarrassed by the effects of her outburst, Pearl makes herself invisible, but when she slips on a banana peel, her cry of alarm scares the horse of a passing dog-cowboy. As the old nag bucks and gallops into the distance, Once again, Spooky is worried that Pearl is going to blame him for this, not realizing that she’s the one responsible. Finally, as still-invisible Pearl follows Spooky into town, she accidentally knocks an open can of green paint onto herself. Covered with the verdant goop, she not only scares the painter (an ape) - but also frightens Spooky! After cleaning off herself - by flying through a drum full of turpentine - Pearl catches up with Spooky and gives him a big kiss as a reward for exhibiting such self-control. This causes him to emit such a loud “Ya-hoo!” of total triumph that he scares everyone within earshot!
- A page featuring two ads: one for ABC’s NEW CASPER CARTOON SHOW; and the other for “250 Magic Tricks Revealed”, a booklet available through mail-order from the “Magic Collection”.
- “Treasure Chest Of Fun”, an ad for a variety of practical jokes, gizmos, gimmicks and gag-gifts available through mail order from the “Honor House Prod. Corp.”
- “Boys, Girls, Men, Women - If You Need Extra Money & You Know Just 10 PeopleYou Can Make $50.00, $100.00, $200.00 And More In Your Spare Time - It Costs You Nothing To Try!”, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad soliciting for door-to-door greeting card salespeople to represent “Wallace Brown, Inc.”
- “Make Money - Get Prizes”, a back-cover ad looking for young door-to-door greeting card salespeople to represent the “American Specialty Company”.
ODDBALL Factoid - Cartoonist Howard Post was also the creator of DC’s teenage caveman, ANTHRO!
Bonus ODDBALL Factoid - Noted science fiction and fantasy author Theodore (”It!”) Sturgeon was a big fan of ODDBALL COMICS, attending midnight performances of Scott Shaw!’s slide show presentation at more than one of the San Diego Comic-Cons of the 1970s! In fact, he even contributed a copy of Spire Comics’ ADAM AND EVE to Shaw!’s massive Oddball Comics collection!
* These were the original names of the Ghostly Trio; due to 1995’s CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST feature film, their names have been officially changed to Fatso, Stinky and Stretch. - SS!
** Special thanks to Mark Arnold and his Harveyville Fun Times http://thft.home.att.net/ for valuable research assistance with this ODDBALL COMICS column! **
Comic Book Publishing Follies
CBR is proud to welcome Todd Allen to the site with the first of his bi-weekly column COMIC BOOK PUBLISHING FOLLIES, where he’ll take a look at what’s new on the business side of comics. Want to work in comics? Don’t answer so fast. Plus, digital downloads and shifting sales channels.
The Buy Pile
Much ado about nothing as the crazy fun of “Shaolin Cowboy,” the fun of “The Ride” and the intensity of “Silent War” are negated by Star Sapphire Corps, a change to the Beyonder and Reed Richards dumbing it down.
Pipeline
Augie found a couple of comics to enjoy this week. Adam Warren’s “Empowered” leads the way, while Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s “All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder” is a surprising source of joy and giggles.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Friday (book chicagoland comic store) Distractions: BigSoil.com
Friday Distractions: BigSoil.com
If I Were In Seattle, I’d Go To This
Creator on Nymphet Cancellation
An entry at something called Japanator notes that Kaworu Watashiya, the author of Kodomo no Jikan, which was to be known here as Nymphet before the plug was pulled on the project, has written at some length about the project’s stillbirth and the corresponding controversy. As written about in multiple sources over the last several days, a decision was made by the American publisher Seven Seas to pull their translated version of the project. According to statements this decision was made over the series subject matter: a child’s sexually-implicative pursuit of an adult teacher.
I think the cartoonist’s view is worth reading, even though I’m not sure the creator has the clearest grasp on the exact notions that caused the project to be pulled. Rather than some quality in certain details from the second volume to the first, I think what’s driving the car in this case is the fact that among those things that audiences in different cultures may find funny that American audiences tend to find objectionable is personal or sexual discomfort that involves a taboo relationship of some sort or a societally responsible line inadvertently being crossed. Although you might see some elements of that vein of humor in a lot of titles, including kids’ books, a series where such a notion is the central concept and that situation is relayed to the reader in a variety of ways would very likely become quickly problematic for its North American publisher. To me that seems pretty straightforward decision-making, although maybe I’m missing some complexities and hidden depths.
this was e-mailed to me, which likely means someone prominent had it up first; my apologies for not being able to provide you credit
Popularity: 5% [?]
(Silver age comic book cover) Superman Kryptonite Crystal Pop Candy
Superman Kryptonite Crystal Pop Candy
The only candy more powerful than the mighty Superman! Imported from planet Krypton, these yummy candy crystals will weaken your will power to resist their seductively sweet powers.
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Company:Kryptonite Kollectibles
List Price:
Amazon Price:$3.99
DC Comics Superman Logo 1 oz. Etched Shot Glass
This beautiful shot glass features the famous Superman “S” logo on a heavy 1oz. shot glass! It is deep cut into the glass and will be there forever! This makes a great collectible and is practical for use as well! This item can be personalized if you contact us, extra fee occurs! Add it to your collection today!
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Thick wall, high quality glass!,Sand cut, not acid! This image is forever!,Value Priced!,Want it personalized? Contact us!,Want a different image? Different type glass? Contact us!
Company:SLIK Creations, Inc.
List Price:$8.95
Amazon Price:$7.95
Justice League Unlimited - Season One (DC Comics Classic Collection)
Director:
Bruce W. Timm
DVD:
Animated,Box set,Closed-captioned,Color,DVD-Video,Widescreen,NTSC
Company:Warner Home Video
(2006-10-24)
List Price:$44.98
Amazon Price:$31.49
Used Price:$29.99
Enchanted Arms With Comic
In Enchanted Arms, you’ll embark on an epic RPG adventure. Escape to a fantasy world filled with beautiful cinematic quality graphics, unique characters and bizarre creatures. Take the role of Atsuma, Enchanter in-training. Transform him from a nave student to savior in a war 1,000 years in the making. Immerse yourself in a deep storyline and learn to master Atsuma’s fighting and magical abilities. Includes comic book.
Video Game:
Master the SpeedTactics Battle System: Easy to navigate interface, the ability to move characters in-battle and distance-dependent attacks create fast paced hands-on gameplay.,Over 500 characters, including over 100 unlockable creatures:Find and unlock over 100 special creatures that you can control and use in battle as part of your team. Learn to harness their unique abilities.,Includes both the original Japanese and an all new English language track: Choose to play the game with either Japanese or English dialogue.,Over 50 hours of epic gameplay: Delve deeper as you meet new characters and explore over 75 environments with multiple objectives and branching missions.,Head-to-head Xbox Live battle: Bring your most powerful characters onto Xbox Live and battle opponents in your quest for the best online ranking.
Company:Ubisoft
(2006-08-29)
List Price:$39.99
Amazon Price:$26.00
Used Price:$20.75
Popularity: 5% [?]
Marvel Heroes Scene (how to restore comic books) Kit
Marvel Heroes Scene Kit
Use this Wall Decorating Kit to transform any room into a metropolitan backdrop! The Marvel Heroes Scene Kit includes:
- (1) Package of 2 City Scape Room Rolls (1 for the bottom and 1 for the top of the scene) that each measure approximately 48″ wide x 23′ long (121.9cm x 7.01m); put both rolls together to create a cityscape theme.
- (1) Marvel Heroes Happy Birthday Scene Setters Add-On that contains 2 halves that make 1 decoration; each half measures approximately 33.5″ x 65″ (85.1cm x 165.1cm)
- (1) Spiderman & Wolverine Scene Setters Add-On that contains 1 Spiderman Add-On and 1 Wolverine Add-On; each measures 33.5″ wide x 50″ tall (85.1 x 127cm)
Please Note: Add-On Wall Decorations contain an assortment of items that are printed on 1 or more plastic sheets and may need to be cut out separately.
- Choose your space
- Install Room Rolls
- Finish off your scene with any or all Scene Setters Wall Decorations
- Decorations can be hung with adhesive or pins (not included)
Keep your decorations secure with Sticky Tack (sold separately).
Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk and the distinctive likeness(es) thereof are Trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. and are used with permission. Copyright 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Scene Setters? by amscan
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Company:BuyCostumes
List Price:
Amazon Price:
The Baby Doll
Audio CD:
Company:Newbury Comics Records
(2004-09-28)
List Price:$9.99
Amazon Price:$7.29
Used Price:$7.87
Ultimate X-Men Complete Comic Book Collection (Win/Mac)
Ultimate X-Men is the wildly successful relaunch that jettisons over forty years of continuity and sets the clock back to the beginning for Marvel’s first group of mutant super heroes. This is a fresh start for the X-Men that begins when they’re still teenagers just becoming a part of Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters and chronicles their new first encounters with Magneto, the Sentinels, Juggernaut, etc. The book is published on a monthly basis and is a cornerstone of the Ultimate Universe, a separate line of comics Marvel produces all sharing the same taking-it-from-the-start philosophy. Ultimate X-men includes 70 issues from February 2001 through May 2006, including annual. It also includes bios of all characters!
CD-ROM:
DVD-VideoUltimate X-Men is the wildly successful relaunch that jettisons over forty years of continuity and sets the clock back,to the beginning for Marvel’s first group of mutant super heroes. This is a fresh start for the X-Men,that begins when they’re still teenagers just becoming a part of Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters and,chronicles their new first encounters with Magneto,
Company:GIT Corp
(2006-05-02)
List Price:$9.99
Amazon Price:$7.26
Used Price:$7.17
Popularity: 4% [?]
(Same comic book drawings) Recent Comics Awards Round-Up
Recent Comics Awards Round-Up
* Missed It: Alison Bechdel won a Lambda Book Award for her graphic novel memoir Fun Home.
* The mountain states office of the Anti-Defamation League honored Mike Keefe of the Denver Post with their Freedom of the Press Award on Monday.
* Gardner Fox and George Gladir will be this year’s recipients of the Bill Finger Award For Excellence in Comic Book Writing, which is given out each year during the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic-Con International.
Go, Read: Basil Wolverton Profile
Happy 65th Birthday, Charles Brownstein!
he’s probably not 65
CR Review: Three Comics
Title: Coyote Collection, Vol. 2
Creators: Steve Englehart, Butch Guice, Chas Troug, Bob Wiacek, Tom Orzechowski, Steve Leialoha, Steve Oliff, Christie Scheele, Bob Sharen, Alan Weiss
Publishing Information: Image, soft cover, 128 pages, 2005, $12.99
Ordering Numbers: 1582405131 (ISBN)
I’m not sure if Steve Englehart’s Epic comic book series Coyote made enough of an impression to carve out more than a passing mention in anyone’s history of mainstream American comics. If it goes anywhere it might be into a paragraph about heroes motivated by sex. Set in Las Vegas and mixing Native American legend with a vaguely defined, controlling-the-world conspiracy feel, Coyote features a hero who is kind of a horndog, the kind of person that uses their superpowers to ogle babes when he’s invisible or to press his advantage with them one-on-one in a kind of super-cocky young celebrity at the nightclub manner. It’s strange that for all of their desire to mimic the dramatic high points of the real world, the vast majority of superhero comics feature gorgeous, powerful and famous characters who get about 1/10th the action enjoyed by Frankie Muniz. So on that level, Coyote makes a lot of sense, and feels a bit present-day.
It’s still very much a creature of its time when it comes to getting past its one-sheet pitch, however. The stories here substitute a surfeit of soap opera style complications (including the old perfect-mate deal) for development of the personal story and bringing in a series of pulp novel obstacles (leagues of assassins! monsters in fighting pits!) to drive the main narrative. Setting a fantasy adventure story in the real world with some semblance of motivation beyond altruism should expand the story possibilities, but here everything that should make Coyote more interesting never gets past the first gear represented by genre correction. This is one of the few comics that would probably benefit from today’s slower-building storylines because the variety of ingredients on hand might have a chance to develop on separate tracks. Unfortunately, this is a collection rather than a series launch. Coyote remains a creature of his time, sex drive or no.
Title:Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #1
Creators: J Torres, Chynna Clugston, Guy Major, Rob Clark Jr., Steve Uy
Publishing Information: DC Comics, comic book, 32 pages, May 2007, Free
Ordering Numbers:
I liked the relatively complicated presentational style DC presents young readers with its cartoon-related Free Comic Book Day giveaway. The jump cuts and multiple levels of narration and framing don’t always seem perfectly realized, but rather than spoon feeding its potential audience a straight-forward narrative the comic presses the notion that kids reading escapist literature of a certain type may be more prepared to accept sophistication from the story technique than in moral shadings and mature character motivations. That’s an impulse that’s driven a lot of kids to fantasy literature of all types, but rarely gets employed in comics because of the perceived difficulties the medium may present all on its strange, hybrid art-form own.
The story itself is predictably goofy, as it features the perpetually never-over Legion of Super-Heroes, who in superhero terms are like those actors that keep landing parts on prime time TV shows without ever quite being successful with one: the Paula Marshall or Dennis Boutsikaris of the comic book world. The Legion seems to maintain a measure of appeal on variety of levels. I think the most important are its long and uniquely benign Silver Age history, and its appeal on the conceptual level of futuristic teens with superpowers, although they all likely contribute. Each re-launch or re-adjustment draws on one element more than the others, irritating that group of vocal fans that approaches the book from the other angle and freezing out most new readers who I think feel like they’re getting the John Stamos-era Beach Boys instead of the real sauce.
This iteration seems more New Monkees than Monkees reunion special, and with sharp enough characterizations could get over with both a kid audience, I guess. The story here deals with DC’s lame Young Superman re-casting of the Superboy concept, and that character’s role as a member of the teenaged super team (”to get us on TV” isn’t mentioned), placing this book into the grand tradition of kids’ comics with some of its content driven by a courtroom decision. Okay, I just made that last part up. I have no idea if there are others.
Title: Countdown #51
Creators: Paul Dini, Jesus Saiz, Jimmy Palmiotti, Tom Chu, Travis Lanham
Publishing Information: DC Comics, comic book, 31 pages, May 2007, $2.99
Ordering Numbers:
I’m not the target audience for this book, and not just because I’m reading a weekly comic like 21 days after it came out. It’s more a content thing. In fact, I’m so not the target audience I could probably put myself to sleep a couple of weeks in a row trying to imagine what such a person would be like: those who love the minute details of DC’s accrued history and those who find the application of such details enervating and quirky instead of baffling and dull, I guess. In this kick-off issue to a series that is a sequel to a similar weekly and a prequel to the company’s next mega-crossover, two characters with whom I’m completely unfamiliar conduct a mini-throwdown over custody of a Britney Spears-type semi washed-up pop singer when they’re interrupted by a bad-ass super-meanie who ratchets up the violence and story significance of said encounter.
There are also a few two-page presentations of different quandaries for characters with whom I’m slightly more familiar — DC’s Nickelodeon TV series-ready Mary Marvel and various members of the Flash’s please-kick-my-ass club or whatever they’re supposed to be called. They feel more like actors happy to be given a plotline on a long-running TV show than larger than life good guys and bad guys. Remember that hopeful look on the affected actress’ face when the early ’90s Star Trek would feature one of its rare “Dr. Crusher” or “Counselor Troi” episodes? Thats what the supporting cast folks look like here. It’s hard to get into the adventures of characters that seem like they still can’t believe their name appeared on the call sheet.
All of this plot grind seems to be in service of cosmic shenanigans of the type where the big bads play chess with the heroes just to show how powerful they are (I have a chess set of comics industry people I pull out from time to time to play games with the ghost of Malcolm Wheeler Nicholson). Or, if you prefer, where the signs and portents of the end-of-the-universe variety reveal the powers that be to be superhero continuity geeks. In the end, while it’s fun to tweak the nose of this kind of stuff, I remain just as baffled about its intended audience once I’m done with the comic as I was on the first page. What this particular brand of sound and fury seems to signify is an abdication of smaller pleasures and an ongoing relationship with individual comic book series for over-inflated, Armageddon-tinged, extended musings on the awesomeness of DC properties. I wish I were still young enough to feign interest. Wait, no I don’t.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Pipeline (comic book on line price guide)
Pipeline
Augie found a couple of comics to enjoy this week. Adam Warren’s “Empowered” leads the way, while Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s “All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder” is a surprising source of joy and giggles.
Permanent Damage
Steven takes a look at the current state of the modern comics shop and raises some serious concerns about their viability, previews more pages from “Two Guns,” political discussion and much more.
Oddball Comics: Popeye And Communication And Media Careers E-3
In all of comicdom, there’s probably nobody who routinely butchers the English language more than Popeye The Sailor! So just what is the salty-mouthed seafarer think he’s doing by dispensing information and advice on how to earn a lotta spinach in jobs in the communications industry? Has Popeye taken so many hits to the head that he’s forgotten that “I yam what I yam”? Find out in POPEYE AND COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA CAREERS, an Oddball educational giveaway comic that’s guaranteed to blow you down!
Popeye The Sailor — the creation of cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar (1894 - 1938) - was introduced in the King Features syndicated newspaper comic strip, THIMBLE THEATRE on January 17, 1929 (nearly ten years into the strip’s run). The strip - created at the urging of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst — originally concerned itself with the exploits of two adventurers, Castor Oyl and his pal Ham Gravy. Popeye was introduced (as a non-recurring character) when the duo required nautical transportation to a casino located on remote Dice Island, where they planned to strike it rich with their magical Whiffle Hen named Bernice. Segar - whose signature included a cartoon of a cigar butt - discovered that he enjoyed writing and drawing the pugnacious sailor, so much so that he extended his presence in THIMBLE THEATRE. According to COMICS BETWEEN THE PANELS, a verbal history of comics by Steve Duin and Mike Richardson, Segar once expressed that “Popeye is much more than a goofy comic character to me. He represents all my emotions, and he is an outlet for them. I’d like to cut loose and knock the heck out of a lot of people, but my good judgment and size hold me back.” Soon after his introduction, the squinty-orbed seaman became THIMBLE THEATRE’s star character. Although scrawny overall and without a tooth in his head, the squinty-eyed seafarer had muscular forearms the size of hams, possessed amazing strength and was nearly indestructible. Never one to shirk from a challenge, Popeye’s super-abilities were originally attributed to contact with the Whiffle Hen, but was eventually linked to the sailor man’s intake of spinach. (In the 1930s, Popeye’s dependence on the leafy legume supposedly increased spinach consumption by 33%!) In addition to his emaciated girlfriend, Olive Oyl (Castor’s sister and originally, Ham Gravy’s girlfriend) THIMBLE THEATER’s cast eventually grew to include such classic characters as hamburger-thieving J. Wellington Wimpy, Eugene the Jeep (from the 5th Dimension), Poopdeck Pappy (Popeye’s long-lost father), the sinister Sea Hag, the brutal thugs Bluto and Brutus, enigmatic Alice The Goon, demented inventor O.G. Wotasnozzle and many others. When Segar died tragically young (from leukemia), THIMBLE THEATRE - known now in many newspapers simply as “Popeye” - carried on under Charles H. “Doc” Winner and later by Segar’s former assistants, Bela Zaboly and Forrest “Bud” Sagendorf. Before Sagendorf took over production of the comic strip entirely in 1958, he wrote and drew dozens of memorable POPEYE comic books, variously published by Dell, Gold Key, King and Charlton, among others. When the POPEYE strip was re-launched in the mid-1980s, it was written and drawn by former underground cartoonist Bobby London; his version of the sailor man combined Segar’s classic approach with a distinctive contemporary flavor. Unfortunately, syndicate politics ended Bobby’s outstanding run on POPEYE far too prematurely. Since then, chameleon-like “ghost” cartoonist Hy Eisman has been grinding out new Sunday strips for King Features, which currently reprints old POPEYE dailies by Sagendorf.
The Fleischer Studio first animated Popeye in a tryout guest appearance in the 1933 cartoon short BETTY BOOP MEETS POPEYE THE SAILOR. (Other King Features comic strip characters to receive this treatment were Otto Soglo’s “Little King” and Carl Anderson’s “Henry”.) The animated Popeye met with such interest that the Fleischer brothers, Max and Dave, starred him in the first of hundreds of his own theatrical cartoon shorts, I YAM WHAT I YAM, later that year. The Fleischer also produced three memorable (and rather experimental) “Popeye” featurettes, POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR, POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES and POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALADDIN AND HIS MAGIC LAMP. Studio Renamed Famous Studios when Paramount Pictures bought them in 1942, the cartoon studio continued to produce new theatrical “Popeye” cartoons through 1957. In the early 1960s, a batch of new low budget “Popeye” cartoons was made in “limited animation” for television by a number of studios. A bizarre animated “special” titled POPEYE AND THE MAN WHO HATED LAUGHTER - featuring dozens of other King Features characters — was produced by Hal (MILTON THE MONSTER) Seegar (no relation) for ABC’s SATURDAY SUPERSTAR MOVIE. Hanna-Barbera also made new “Popeye” TV cartoons in the 1970s and 1980s, including the notorious POPEYE AND SON, featuring the adventures of the offspring of a now-married Popeye and Olive. 1980 saw POPEYE as a live-action feature film, written by cartoonist (and former assistant to Will Eisner on THE SPIRIT) Jules Feiffer, directed by Robert Altman, with music by Harry Nilsson and starring Robin Williams as Popeye, Shelly Duval as Olive Oyl, Paul Smith as Bluto, Ray Walston as Poopdeck Pappy and Paul Dooley as J. Wellington Wimpy, In recent years, Popeye has appeared in video games, on slot machines and in a CG made-for-television special.
POPEYE AND COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA CAREERS was one of fifteen specially-produced educational “custom comics” in the CAREER EDUCATIONAL SERIES, prepared, packaged and printed by Charlton Comics and published by King Features and sold directly to school systems. Titles in this series included:
E-1: POPEYE AND HEALTH CAREERS
E-2: POPEYE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CAREERS
E-3: POPEYE AND COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA CAREERS
E-4: POPEYE AND TRANSPORTATION CAREERS
E-5: POPEYE AND CONSTRUCTION CAREERS
E-6: POPEYE AND CONSUMER AND HOMEMAKING CAREERS
E-7: POPEYE AND MANUFACTURING CAREERS
E-8: POPEYE AND HOSPITALITY AND RECREATION CAREERS
E-9: POPEYE AND MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION CAREERS
E-10: POPEYE AND BUSINESS AND OFFICE CAREERS
E-11: POPEYE AND PUBLIC SERVICE CAREERS
E-12: POPEYE AND PERSONAL SERVICE CAREERS
E-13: POPEYE AND MARINE SCIENCE CAREERS
E-14: POPEYE AND FINE ARTS AND HUMANITIES CAREERS
E-15: POPEYE AND AGRI-BUSINESS AND NATURAL RESOURCES CAREERS
Exactly why anyone at the King Features Syndicate thought that Popeye was the ideal character to extol the virtues of such inappropriate careers (with the exception of POPEYE AND MARINE SCIENCE CAREERS) is anyone’s guess. But when you consider that the “real” Popeye seems unable to replicate the English language with any sort of proper grammar or “pronunskiashun”, it’s especially ironic (and Oddball) to have the sailor-man hosting his own comic on COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA CAREERS
POPEYE AND COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA CAREERS’ untitled, 31-page cover-story was written by Joe Gill and drawn by Ray Dirgo. It begins on its inside-front-cover, as Popeye launches into an exhaustively long-winded introduction - in perfect English, no less - to Swee’pea:
POPEYE:
In this country, we get more information than any other people on Earth, Swee’pea, and I am going to explain to you how we get our information. We can talk to people almost anywhere in the world with this telephone, Swee’pea. Communications help to bring people of the world closer together and increase our understanding of people of other nations. We can find what’s happening all over the world from the MEDIAthe word they use for television, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies, tapes and records. Besides the news, Swee’pea, television and radio provide information and entertainment for millions! The entertainment field, of course, is another field with many careers to choose from. More than TWO MILLION PEOPLE work in communications and media, Swee’pea, and many more will be employed in television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the telephone industry in the future. No matter what jobs thee people do, they will all play a part in bringing information to people and helping everyone to communicate with one another. There are many different jobs for men and women, young and old, and anyone can find a job if he is interested and shows he has the ability.SWEE’PEA:
What will I have to know to get one of these jobs, Popeye?POPEYE:
That depends on the kind of job that you want and the type that will make you happy, Swee’pea.
Then Popeye takes Swee’pea into the city, showing him examples of the three largest groups of jobs in communications: print, broadcast and telephone/telegraph. (It’s interesting to note that this comic was published long before the concept of the Internet!) Then the squinty-eyed swab takes his adopted son into an office building marked “NBS Television”, where newscast is in progress. While showing Swee’pea around the place, he addresses the reader with some surprisingly blunt information:
POPEYE:
There are NO SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS for television and radio announcers. TV and radio announcers don’t have to be college graduates, but the companies prefer them. They also want men and women who look nice and have clear, pleasing voices.
After a rather jarring scene-shift to a battlefield - demonstrating that radio and TV announcers “have to get out where the news is being made” - Popeye lays some more drier-than-dry information on Swee’pea about the requirements of working as a broadcast technician. Then, Popeye and Swee’pea move on to the offices of the CITY TIMES newspaper, outside of which, Popeye is “mowed down” by an over-enthusiastic journalist. Strolling around the newsroom, Popeye explains the duties of the City Editor and the Sports Editor. Then he delivers an extraordinarily lengthy bit of dialog - by necessity, hand-lettered at a very small size — all within a single word balloon:
POPEYE:
As you see, newspaper editors are well informed, and can put thoughts into words. Some newspaper only hire men and women to be editors who have a college education and some insist on a degree in journalism, but there are other newspaper jobs for those who have not gone to college. Newspapers also need printing press operators, artists of all kinds, photographers, delivery men and may more. How would you like to be a copy boy, Swee’pea?
(Hmmm, looks to me like this is an example of some last-minute editing. Popeye had better watch out; with any more of these extra-verbose word balloons, he might develop a hunchback!) After visiting the CITY TIMES’ nutty-looking Society Editor, staff photographer J. Wellington Wimpy runs by. Popeye assumes he’s on the trail of a big story, but typically, Wimpy’s on a coffee break and running off to order a dozen hamburgers from a nearby diner. Then Popeye visits a fashion photographer (who’s shooting a session with Olive Oyl), the wilderness (where he’s chased by a camera-shy bear), an art gallery (where fine artwork is being photographed) and a room marked “Top Secret” (where a suspicious-looking guy is taking photos of classified material with a very tiny camera!) Following a long screed on the requirements for becoming a photographer, Popeye visits a photoengraving company, an art school and a commercial art studio. After posing for a life-drawing class and annoying one of the art school’s instructors, a towering stack of magazines topple over on Popeye while he delivers a message about the life of a commercial artist:
POPEYE:
SOMETHING NEW IS HAPPENING EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY. PEOPLE WORKING IN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA HELP TO TELL IT LIKE IT IS! THEY LOVE THEIR WORK LIKE I LOVE SPINACH!
Geez, calm down, ya swab! Next, Popeye pays a visit to a factory to see how a newspaper is printed. (One of these panels has been very poorly printed - with smudged and bleeding black ink that makes it difficult to read its hand-lettered copy — which is rather ironic, considering that this comic was actually printed on Charlton’s privately-owned printing presses!) As Swee’pea re-joins him, Popeye tells him about potential careers in the telephone business. Visiting the offices of a phone company, we see Olive Oyl working as a phone operator, one of over 400,000 of them in the country:
POPEYE:
Nearly all telephone operators are girls, Swee’pea, but there are a few men too.
Then the old salt takes Swee’pea to a privately-run office building and introduces the human tadpole to women who works as a receptionist and phone switchboard operator, one of whom has skin the color of a ripe lemon. (I guess she’s supposed to be Asian; either that, or it’s just another example of Charlton’s hit-or-miss printing.) This sequence ends with Popeye sleeping on a park bench located outside the phone company’s headquarters!
POPEYE:
One of the drawbacks to being a telephone operator is you may have to work nights sometimes and you may have to work on week-ends or holidays.
Later, we catch up with Popeye at the local airport, where he takes us inside the control tower to watch various air traffic ground controllers doing their job. One of ‘em, apparently another lemon-skinned Asian, receives a comedic electrical shock while tightening a loose wire in his instrument console. Then, after a mind-numbing page on the legal requirements needed to work in airline radio-operator jobs, Popeye finally gets to do what he does best. (No, he doesn’t beat the snot out of a bully.) He rows a dinghy out to an offshore ship to visit its Morse code operator. Then he visits a train yard, where he watches a train dispatcher use the telegraph to do his job. Apparently, Popeye’s so immersed in his mission to teach Swee’pea about jobs in the communication and media that he forgets that he’s standing on the train tracks - it takes a warning cry from Swee’pea to alert him to an oncoming train - and he leaps to safety at the last second! Finally, Popeye takes a look at the job of phone company linemen, “some of the most important communications workers”. In the middle of a blinding snowstorm - one so thick that cartoonist Ray Dirgo is able to get away with leaving one panel blank - we’re shown a phone company’s cable splicer working in a canvas shelter high above the ground. In a rare bit of humor, Popeye wryly comments:
POPEYE:
They told him he’d get plenty of fresh air on this job!
Later, back at home, while Popeye reads the newspaper, Swee’pea reads a POPEYE comic book, considering his options regarding a future career in communications and media. But when he’s interrupted to answer the ringing telephone, he’s amused to realize it’s a wrong number - the caller’s speaking Chinese!
Also included in this issue of POPEYE AND COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA CAREERS are the following features:
- “Can You Answer These?”, a quiz regarding the contents of this educational comic book.
- “Hey, Kids - Discussion Questions!”, an inside-back-cover list of questions to consider and discuss with classmates.
- A back-cover “Popeye” gag cartoon/pin-up, drawn by George Wildman, of the sailor-man working as a lineman for the phone company (!?!) while dealing with an over-aggressively territorial woodpecker.
ODDBALL Factoid - Cover-cartoonist George Wildman has not only written and drawn the comic book adventures of Popeye The Sailor. He’s also worked on such characters as Mickey Mouse, the Ghostbusters, the Snorks, the Jetsons, Alf, Nancy and Sluggo, Curious George, Tiny Toons, Casper The Friendly Ghost and Clifford The Big Red Dog!
Bonus ODDBALL Factoid - ODDBALL Factoid - POPEYE AND COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA CAREERS’ incredibly prolific writer Joe Gill was responsible for countless scripts for Charlton, including ones for such Oddball series as KONGA, GORGO and REPTILICUS!
Double-Bonus ODDBALL Factoid — Statues of Popeye The Sailor have been erected in Elzie Segar’s home town of Chester, Illinois and in “the spinach capital of the world”, Crystal City, Texas!
Oddball Comics: Caspers Ghostland Vol. 1, No. 33
Casper The Friendly Ghost first appeared in “The Friendly Ghost”, which was directed by Isadore Sparber. A Famous Studios theatrical cartoon short released by Paramount in 1945, it was based upon an unpublished children’s book written by Seymour Reit and illustrated by Joe Oriolo. The second cartoon to star Casper (whose actual name wasn’t established until he starred in h is own comic book) wasn’t released until 1948, but soon, an entire series of Casper cartoons were produced, making the leap from theaters (the last theatrical short was released in 1959) to television (the first made-for-television CASPER cartoon was made in 1963). St. John published the first CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST comic book in September, 1949; in 1952, Harvey Comics took over the publication of the series, and in 1959, bought the rights to the character. Soon, Harvey expanded Casper’s world, with new stories featuring the Ghostly Trio, Wendy The Good Little Witch, Spooky The Tuff Little Ghost and his long-suffering girlfriend Pearl, Hot Stuff The Devil Kid, Nightmare the ghost-horse and many others. In fact, Casper was so successful for Harvey that it wasn’t long before other publishers came up with their own “friendly ghosts”, including SUPER SPOOK, SPENCER SPOOK, TIMMY THE TIMID GHOST, HOMER THE HAPPY GHOST, SPUNKY THE SMILING SPOOK, LI’L GHOST and many others.
In 1941, three brothers - Leon, Robert and Alfred Harvey - co-founded Harvey Comics. Originally publishing a line of unremarkable anthology titles, their first big hit was THE BLACK CAT, a strip set in Hollywood starring a sexy costumed heroine. Harvey also achieved a degree of success when they took over publication of THE GREEN HORNET. But what put them on the funnybook map was their licensing of various comic strip characters, including JOE PALOOKA, BLONDIE, DICK TRACY, MUTT AND JEFF and SAD SACK, among others. By this time, Harvey had also been publishing horror, war and romance comics, but when they acquired the rights to print CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, the company’s focus began to change, and by 1957, when Harvey bought the rights to Paramount’s stable of cartoon characters, their output shifted to mostly so-called “kiddie comics”, with the exception of Joe Simon’s outlandish line of “Harvey Thrillers” during the superhero boom of the mid-1960s and BUNNY, “Queen Of The In-Crowd”, an attempt to carve off some of the teen marked dominated by Archie Comics.
All comic book muck-monsters are in one way or another derived from the title-character of Theodore Sturgeon’s 1940 short story, “It!” These include Hillman’s “The Heap” (created by Harry Stein and Mort Leav in the pages of AIR FIGHTERS COMICS No. 3, December, 1942), DC’s “Solomon Grundy” (created by Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS No. 61, cover-dated October, 1944), Marvel’s “pre-hero” monsters (including “The Glob” from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, “Taboo! The Thing From Murky Swamp!” and “The Thing CalledIt!” from STRANGE TALES and “The Creature From The Black Bog!” from TALES OF SUSPENSE) by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, DC’s “Swamp Thing” (created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson in HOUSE OF SECRETS No. 92, cover-dated June-July, 1971), Marvel’s “Man-Thing” (created by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow in SAVAGE TALES No. 1, May, 1971) and even the underground comix characters “the Turd” (created by Scott Shaw! in Ken Krueger’s GORY STORIES QUARTERLY No. 2 1/2 and “Dorrgsheett” (from Dave Gibson’s all-star DORGSHEETT DIGEST, which was entirely devoted to disgustingly gooey poo-creatures!) Just as DC Comics seemed to have an infatuation with gorillas and dinosaurs, Marvel displayed a similar attraction to muck-monsters, apparently to exploit mankind’s fear of its own fecal waste-matter. But who ever expected to find Harvey Comics - purveyors of otherwise squeaky-clean kiddie comics - to contribute to this somewhat nauseating tradition?
Harvey Comics’ “Voo Doo Doo” was designed and drawn by cartoonist Warren Kremer (6/26/1921 - 7/24/2003), whose distinctive drawing and storytelling has come to represent the house-style of Harvey Comics. The Bronx-born cartoonist was the son of a commercial sign painter, and graduated from New York’s High School Of Music and Art and the School Of Industrial Arts. Influenced by Alex (FLASH GORDON) Raymond and Hal (PRINCE VALIANT) Foster, Warren’s early work included illustrations for pulp magazines, particularly those with a theme of aviation. His first comic book gig was HAP HAZARD for Ace Comics; Warren also married the feature’s letterer, Grace. In 1948, he began a 35-year-long relationship with Harvey Comics, first illustrating horror comics, but eventually specializing in appealing “kiddie” comics such as CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, HOT STUFF THE DEVIL KID, PLAYFUL LITTLE AUDREY, RICHIE RICH THE POOR LITTLE RICH KID and STUMBO THE GIANT, among others, as well as serving as the publisher’s Art Editor. When Harvey Comics stopped producing original material in 1983, Kremer followed editor Sid Jacobson over to Marvel, where he worked on TOP DOG, PLANET TERRY, ROYAL ROY, EWOKS, FLINTSTONE KIDS and COUNT DUCKULA, among others. One day, when Warren dropped off some artwork at Marvel, staffer (and extraordinary cartoonist) Marie Severin was heard to remark, “They don’t know it, but this is the best artist who ever walked through these doors.”
There’s really only one actual Oddball aspect of this issue of CASPER’S GHOSTLAND - part of Harvey Comics’ line of 64-page “Giant Size” funnybooks — but it’s an absolute doozy! I’m referring to the three-part, 15-page “Casper The Friendly Ghost” story penciled by Warren Kremer, the first chapter of which is titled “Powfinger”. It begins as the Casper scolds the Ghostly Trio - Fatso, Fusso and Lazo*) - about making their bed. Fed up with him, the trio take a big breath and blow their immaterial housemate right through the wall! Flung outside, the friendly ghost shows a rarely-seen side of his personality, until he’s interrupted by a fancily-dressed stranger wearing a top hat:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
TrioSometimes I wish I were BIG enough toSTRANGER:
SIGN RIGHT HERE!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
HUH?STRANGER:
Sign right here and your WISHES will come TRUECASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
But I really DIDN’T wishSTRANGER:
Of COURSE you did! EVERYBODY wants something. Sign this simple contract and HAPPINESS is yours
But when Casper reads down to some indecipherable fine print, he hands the “standard wish application” back to the devilish stranger. Suddenly, the stranger’s demeanor becomes instantly irritated, annoyed that Casper’s wasting his time, as he strides off into the Enchanted Forest. Casper’s attention is drawn elsewhere, when he hears poor Gnomey the gnome yelling at a huge, hairy troll who’s sitting on top of his toadstool home. The big bully taunts Gnomey:
TROLL:
I’ve got more strength in my LITTLE FINGER than you have in your WHOLE BODY!
Fortunately for Gnomey, when Casper shows up on the scene, the frightened troll takes off, insisting that he’s not scared of ghosts. But Gnomey remains angry and frustrated, so much so that when the well-dressed stranger appears, he anxiously signs his mysterious contract. The stranger presents him with a special ring - and name:
STRANGER:
Hold out your little finger! You are now “POWFINGER”! Have fun!
Wondering what his new moniker signifies, Gnomey soon finds out, when he topples a mighty oak with one touch of his little finger! And when Casper refers to him as “Gnomey”, the little gnome uses his pinkie to “pow” the friendly ghost off of his feet, too! Now more of a bully than the troll ever was, “Powfinger” stalks away, leaving Casper to worry about the fine print in his “standard wish application”. This story’s second chapter, “Today The Swamp”, continues as Casper catches up to “Powfinger” in a particularly creepy area of the Enchanted Forest - the Scary Swamp! While “Powfinger” belligerently calls out a challenge for his troll tormentor, Casper makes nice with a .local crocodile:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
I’m Casper the friendly ghostandCROCODILE:
GHOST! Hey, WAIT A MINUTE! Who’s AFRAID of ghosts?CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
You’re NOT? I’m so GLAD!CROCODILE:
In this swamp here are things so SCARY, ghosts look like FRIENDS!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
I AM a friend!CROCODILE:
Don’t CONFUSE me! There are WEEJUMS and WOOJUMS and the DREADED VOO DOO DOO!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
BRRR! The NAMES give me the chills!
Casper asks his new friend to help him read the fine print on “Powfinger’s” contract, but even with excellent eyesight, the crocodile has the same difficulty that Casper has every time he tries to read it:
CROCODILE:
HmmmThat’s FUNNY! The HARDER you look, the SMALLER it gets!
Then a passing vulture drops in and volunteers to give it a try, claiming that vultures have the best eyesight in the world - but he’s equally frustrated by the “standard wish agreement” contract that Casper shows him:
VULTURE:
The print keeps getting SMALLER and SMALLER! What are you, some kind of a MAGICIAN?
Suddenly, Casper hears a call for help - it’s Gnomey, er, “Powfinger”, sinking in a pit of quicksand! Casper flies to his rescue, but once he’s pulled the little gnome out of the goo, he’s attacked by a gnome-hungry Weejum! But without raising a sweat, “Powfinger” knocks out the attacking Weejum with one touch of his little finger. Casper tries to get him to read the fine print on his contract, but power-hungry “Powfinger” doesn’t express the slightest interest. All he cares about is facing down the troll who bullied him earlier:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
Now, listen, Casper, and listen GOODALL MY LIFE I’ve been LITTLE and AFRAID of everybody! Now everybody’s going to be afraid of ME, POWFINGER! And I don’t CARE what the fine print saysOR YOU EITHER! TROLL!
In response to “Powfinger’s” call, the monstrous troll shows upand once again, he uses his pinkie to spectacular effect:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
TODAY the SWAMPTOMORROW the WORLD!
“Powfinger” even gets so carried away that he accidentally “pows” himself in the head! But this gaffe doesn’t seem to reduce his newly-inflated ego one bit:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
WATCH yourself, Casper! I’ve been nice to you so far because we USED to be FRIENDS! NOW HEAR THIS, SWAMP CREATURES! POWFINGER IS TAKING OVER! Any OBJECTIONS, dreaded (HA HA) Woojum?
But apparently, one of the denizens of the Scary Swamp does have an objection:
WOOJUM:
It’s the SUPERDREADED VOO DOO DOO!
The third chapter, “The Fine Print”, concludes as the other creatures of the swamp run for their lives from the dreaded Voo Doo Doo, who emerges from the murky waters. “Powfinger”, however, remains unimpressed:
GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
JUST A MINUTE, THERE! What’s so great about HIM?VULTURE:
You don’t KNOW about the Voo Doo Doo? He’s the great MUD CREATURE from the BOTTOM of the SWMP! If he SEIZES you in his great mud arms he’ll take you to the BOTTOM of the SWAMP and you’ll NEVER be HEARD FROM again!
With that, Voo Doo Doo attacks “Powfinger“, who’s pinkie is surprisingly ineffective against the swamp monster:
CROW:
HA HA HA, bigshot! Mud will ABSORB any impact!
But before any real damage can occur, Casper intercedes, trying to smooth things over, while unintentionally (?) luring Voo Doo Doo away from the moisture-providing swamp as it tries to grab the little ghost in its gooey arms:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
UhWait, Mr. Voo Doo Doo! Little Gnomey here didn’t MEAN any HARM!VOO DOO DOO:
ARGH!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
You see, he has this NEW POWERand I’m afraid it’s GONE to his HEAD!WOOJUM:
LOOK! The LITTLE GHOST is luring Voo Doo Doo AWAY from the POOL!WEEJUM:
He’s DRYING OUT!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
PLEASE, Mr. Voo Doo Doo! Is it GOOD for you to be so dry?VOO DOO DOO:
ARGH!
Suddenly, Voo Doo Doo accidentally trips on an exposed root and falls right on top of “Powfinger”, who shields himself with his hand. The instant that his pinkie finger comes into contact with Voo Doo Doo, it blasts the muck-monster into muddy molecules:
SFX:
POWWEEJUM:
WOW! Powfinger DESTROYED VOO DOO DOO!WOOJUM:
He is INDEED RULER of the SWAMP!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
GOLLY! Voo Doo Doo is just a MOUND of EARTH!SUNFLOWER CREATURE:
Not JUST earththat’s BEAUTIFUL TOPSOIL!
(If anyone remains unconvinced as to the fecal nature of funnybook muck-monsterswell, there’s your proof!) Suddenly, the mysterious stranger in the top hat reappears, to finally reveal the fine print of “Powfinger’s” contract — “YOU ARE MY SLAVE”! With some sort of “evil current” emanating from the tip of his cane, the mysterious stranger - no longer nearly so charming - drags away poor “Powfinger”, whose pow-ers are ineffective against his new master. Casper bravely tries to intercede on his friend’s behalf, but he’s blasted - and apparently destroyed (how do you kill a ghost?) - by the stranger’s current. “Powfinger” reacts to Casper’s death is a manner that’s probably as melodramatic as a Harvey Comic can possibly get:
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
I’ll save you, GnomeyOH!GNOMEY/”POWFINGER”:
OH, CASPER! WAIT, MASTER! IT’S CASPER! MY FRIEND! SNIFF! OH, CASPER! I’M SO SORRY! SOB!
Driven by grief, “Powfinger” suddenly manages to generate one final “pow”, knocking his master off of his feet! As Casper slowly revives (See? You can’t kill a ghost!), the stranger demands to take back his contract:
GNOMEY:
What HAPPENED?STRANGER:
That DRATTED GHOST made you THINK of SOMEONE BESIDE YOURSELF! My magic’s no good against THAT!
Gnomey assists the still-dazed Casper to get back onto his feet:
GNOMEY:
Geeit’s nice to be able to TOUCH someone without KNOCKING him DOWN! And you know what, Casper! I don’t FEEL SMALL anymore!CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST:
Why SHOULD you?
Also included in this issue of CASPER’S GHOSTLAND are the following stories, features and advertisements:
- A black-and-white, inside-front-cover house-ad for Harvey’s line of “Giant Size” comics, including CASPER’S GHOSTLAND, WENDY WITCH WORLD, SAD SACK LAUGH SPECIAL, RICHIE RICH SUCCESS, RICHIE RICH MILLIONS, CASPER AND NIGHTMARE, SAD SAD SACK WORLD and RICHIE RICH DOLLARS AND CENTS.
- An untitled, one-page “Casper’s Ghostland” gag-strip, penciled by Warren Kremer. Even though it’s a warm summer day, and there’s not a trace of ice on the pond, Casper uses his ghostly abilities to go ice-skating.
- An untitled, one-page “Wendy” gag-strip. When Wendy has to transport a ton of goodies to the “ghost kiddie party”, she borrows Pearl’s bow ribbon to strap herself to her flying broom.
- An untitled, one-page “Spooky” gag-strip, penciled by Howard Post. Spooky helps out poor old Gramps the ghost by filling his bag of tricks with sheer boo-power, allowing him to scare the bejabbers out of a bear.
- “Wendy, The Good Little Witch” in “Secret Agent Witch”, drawn by Marty Taras. - Wendy is so impressed with the gadgets of her favorite TV hero “Secret Agent 1478325 1/2″ that she seeks out Casper the friendly ghost to share a game of “secret agent” with her. She tells her ghostly friend to pretend that he’s a bad guy and to take her wand away from her. But before he can comply, a nasty ogre interrupts them and grabs Wendy’s wand. Fortunately for them, Wendy had previously put a spell on a prickly cactus to make it appear to be her wand! When the mean ogre recovers from his wounds, he grabs Wendy and shakes her upside-down to dislodge her wand. But again, Wendy has a trick in store for him; the wand multiplies itself into a huge stack of exact duplicates, with Wendy hanging onto the original. When the ogre chases and corners them, Wendy transforms herself and Casper into a pair of ferocious wild bobcats, who scratch and tear at the ogre until he runs away. (In a confusing leap of logic, Wendy and Casper then thank the two bobcats for their help!) Finally, Wendy gives one of her spare wands to Casper. When it turns into a banana, Casper peels it and tosses away the peel, claiming “Well, at least this weapon won’t hurt anyone!” But when a passing pink bunny rabbit slips on the peel, he pointedly challenges Casper’s assertion.
- “A Tale Of TV”, a 3/4-page text-story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “The Proud King”, a 34-page text story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for SAD SACK, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “Spooky The Tuff Little Ghost” in “Basic Training”, drawn by Warren Kremer. - Spooky’s startled awake when a huge boot falls on his bed, nearly crushing him. He wonders if a passing giant has somehow lost his shoe, but he soon discovers that it’s just the misguided handiwork of Ginger, a young witch whose witchy aunt is attempting to train her in the black arts. When the little witch nearly destroys the roof of Spooky’s house while practicing broom-flying, he vows to get even - but the old witch sends his own “boo” back against him! Determined, Spooky “fights fire with fire” by recruiting his own young student, a little ghost named Fireball, to learn “how to be a ghost”. When the little ghost slaps Ginger in the face, she retaliates by casting a spell to give him gigantic ears. Instead, the neophyte mini-witch’s magic adds giant ears to Spooky’s house. Then, when she tries to transform the kid ghost’s head into a chimney, all she accomplishes is to add two extra chimneys onto the roof of Spooky’s cabin. When the old witch interrupts Ginger and Fireball competitive game of magical hide-and-seek, the little witch hurls a spell at Spooky’s ghostly student - which promptly turns him into a blue witch! This - and the fact that his house is now nearly unrecognizable (somewhere along the way it acquired a pair of giant bat-wings!) — disgusts Spooky to the point that he gives up on his original plan and opts, instead, to “raise the roof” - literally! He belts out such a resounding “Boo!” that it hurls his cabin high into the air, and upon landing, it completely re-builds itself in its original form. Spooky’s boo-blast also has the desirable effect of chasing away Ginger and her witchy auntie, but he still has to contend with Fireball, who’s still a witch. But when his young student insists on more lessons in how to be a ghost, Spooky is only too glad to cooperate. The final panel of this story shows Spooky chasing Fireball, driving his young charge ahead of him with one big “boo” after another.
- An untitled, one-page “Spooky” gag-strip, penciled by Howard Post. Crossing a desert, Spooky takes refuge from the sun inside a giant’s shoe; when its owner returns, Spooky gets rid of him with a really big “Shoo!” (This is a reference to TV variety host Ed Sullivan.)
- An untitled, one-page “Spooky” gag-strip, penciled by Howard Post. Flying through Witches’ Valley, Spooky blasts a green-faced witch with a big “Boo!”, giving her hair the “electrified” look she’s been trying to achieve.
- An untitled, one-page “Casper” gag-strip, penciled by Warren Kremer. Poor Mr. Bear is suffering from insomnia, but when he realizes that Casper is a ghost, he faints — and finally gets a good night’s sleep in the process.
- “Flash Farrell Gets The Picture At Goodyear Aerospace”, a strip-ad — drawn by Neal Adams — for Goodyear bicycle tires.
- “Casper The Friendly Ghost” in “The Mysterious Statue”, penciled by Warren Kremer. - This is the first of a three-part storyline; it begins when Casper drops by the Ghostly Trio’s house, only to find them practicing for a “scare raid”. Unwilling to participate in this - or their game of “peek-a-BOO” - Casper heads over to see his friend, Wendy the good little witch. On the way, he bumps into Something, a mischievous little ghost he knows. Together, they pay a visit to Wendy, who’s been whipping up a batch of “yummy”-smelling witches’ brew. Something watches her uses her magic want to conjure up a jar of spices to mix into some cake batter. Then he grabs her wand and gestures with it, hoping to conjure up some goodies, but instead, he accidentally uses the magic wand to turn its master into a stone statue! And making matters even worse, Something accidentally drops Wendy’s magic wand into Wendy’s blazing fireplace, burning it to a cinder. If they can’t replace the wand, it looks like Wendy is doomed to being a statue for all time! Fortunately, Casper has an idea. Through a series of flashbacks (a potentially-confusing-to-young-readers storytelling device that Harvey Comics usually avoided), we’re shown how Wendy was given the wand after saving old Greta The Sorceress in gratitude for saving her from a mean bear up on Magic Mountain. Determined to change their friend back into flesh and blood, Casper and Something set out across the Burning Desert toward Magic Mountain. (To be continued.)
- An untitled, two-page “Ghostly Trio” gag-strip, penciled by Warren Kremer. The trouble-making Ghostly Trio invades a costume party, but the guests are scared a bit - they think the ghosts are merely in disguise. But when the Trio gives up and start to fade out, they accidentally scare everyone, to their great mutual delight.
- “Casper The Friendly Ghost” in “Magic Mountain”, penciled by Warren Kremer. - Continuing the storyline from “The Mysterious Statue”, Casper and Something the ghost manage to cross The Burning Desert and ascend to the top of Magic Mountain, where they discover a huge medieval castle that’s protected by a thick, invisible barrier. Unable to enter it, they take an alternate route, but run afoul of a huge and overaggressive crow. But when Something’s frightening-sounding crying triggers an avalanche, the crow decides to take off. Casper and Something cleverly take shelter from the rockslide by hiding within the boulder. The next impediment to their progress is a field full of hungry giant man-eating flowers, but Casper and Something easily avoid it by flying above the famished flora. As they approach the castle’s front gate, they find it guarded by a “great big pussy cat” — a grumpy lion. After the mischievous little ghost yanks its tail, the lion chases Something back into the field of carnivorous flowers. When Something is swallowed by a particularly aggressive breed of the perilous posies, he uses his ghostly powers to become immaterial and escape. But when the lion gets gobbled up as well, sympathetic Casper uses a sprig of goldenrod to make his flowery captor to sneeze, setting free the grateful feline — who now volunteers to take them to Greta The Sorceress. (To be continued.)
- A page featuring two ads: one for “GRIT, America’s Greatest Family Newspaper”; the other for “Power Binoculars” available through mail-order from “Hi-Power”.
- A house-ad for various Harvey Comics, including CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, LITTLE AUDREY AND MELVIN, HOT STUFF, SAD SACK, TUFF GHOSTS, DEVIL KIDS, PLAYFUL LITTLE AUDREY, LITTLE SAD SACK, HARVEY HITS featuring “G.I. Juniors”, BABY HUEY AND PAPA, LITTLE LOTTA, LITTLE DOT DOTLAND, BABY HUEY, SAD SACK AND SARGE, SPOOKY THE TUFF LITTLE GHOST, RICHIE RICH, WENDY THE GOOD LITTLE WITCH, LITTLE DOT and CASPER’S GHOSTLAND.
- A one-page “Rocky And Bullwinkle” strip-ad for General Mills’ “Cheerios” breakfast cereal.
- A house-ad for Harvey’s line of “Giant Size” comics, including TV CASPER AND COMPANY, SAD SAD SACK WORLD, LITTLE LOTTA IN FOODLAND, LITTLE AUDREY TV FUNTIME, LITTLE DOT’S AUNTS AND UNCLES, STUMBO TINYTOWN, RICHIE RICH DOLLARS AND CENTS, BABY HUEY DUCKLAND, SAD SACK LAUGH SPECIAL, HOT STUFF SIZZLERS, RICHIE RICH MILLIONS, SPOOKY SPOOKTOWN, CASPER’S GHOSTLAND and WENDY WITCH WORLD.
- “Casper The Friendly Ghost” in “Greta The Sorceress”, penciled by Warren Kremer. - Continuing the story from “Magic Mountain”, this final chapter begins as Casper introduces himself and Something to Greta The Sorceress. She mistakes them for evil spirits, and when Casper tells he that Wendy needs a replacement for the destroyed wand that Greta once gave her, the sorceress thinks they’re trying to trick her. Distracted while she looks through a book of spells to banish the “evil” ghosts, Greta doesn’t notice when Casper and Something turn themselves invisible. But when Something tries to hide inside an old vase (”to be doubly safe”), he knocks it over and reveals their presence to Greta. The green-skinned sorceress goes to her magic mirror to help locate her uninvited guests, but when Casper whispers a suggestion in her ear - one that Greta assumes is a “brainstorm” - she asks to see Wendy. Seeing that Casper was telling the truth all along, Greta takes him and Something upstairs, where she shows them an entire trunk of wands! Something eagerly grabs one of them and tries to concoct some magic, but without success. Greta explains that she hasn’t yet put the magic into the wand yet. After blasting it with her powers of sorcery, Greta uses it to materialize an elephant, then turn it into a tiny mouse, then transform Something into an elongated giant! Thanking Greta, Casper and Something return to the Enchanted Forest, where Casper uses the new magic wand to undo Something’s near-tragic error. And once Wendy is restored to normal, the first thing she does is use her new wand to place a “magic circle” around Something to keep him out of further mischief!
- “The Great Lesson”, a 3/4-page text-story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for RICHIE RICH, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “Casper’s Diary”, a 3/4-page text-story.
- A 1/4-page strip-ad house-ad for HOT STUFF, penciled by Warren Kremer.
- “Spooky The Tuff Little Ghost” in “Loyal To Poil”, penciled by Howard Post. - Appalled after witnessing Spooky scare a cow into climbing a tree, his ghostly girlfriend Pearl issues an ultimatum — unless Spooky can go an entire day without scaring anyone, she refuses to date him any more! Intimidated by her dictate, Spooky manages to resist scaring a passing bear who’s carrying a big stack of packages. But when Pearl sees Spooky’s impressive feat of self-control, she lets out a squeal of delight, revealing herself to the bear - and scaring the daylights out of him! Unaware that Pearl was the cause of this, Spooky worries that she’ll blame him. Embarrassed by the effects of her outburst, Pearl makes herself invisible, but when she slips on a banana peel, her cry of alarm scares the horse of a passing dog-cowboy. As the old nag bucks and gallops into the distance, Once again, Spooky is worried that Pearl is going to blame him for this, not realizing that she’s the one responsible. Finally, as still-invisible Pearl follows Spooky into town, she accidentally knocks an open can of green paint onto herself. Covered with the verdant goop, she not only scares the painter (an ape) - but also frightens Spooky! After cleaning off herself - by flying through a drum full of turpentine - Pearl catches up with Spooky and gives him a big kiss as a reward for exhibiting such self-control. This causes him to emit such a loud “Ya-hoo!” of total triumph that he scares everyone within earshot!
- A page featuring two ads: one for ABC’s NEW CASPER CARTOON SHOW; and the other for “250 Magic Tricks Revealed”, a booklet available through mail-order from the “Magic Collection”.
- “Treasure Chest Of Fun”, an ad for a variety of practical jokes, gizmos, gimmicks and gag-gifts available through mail order from the “Honor House Prod. Corp.”
- “Boys, Girls, Men, Women - If You Need Extra Money & You Know Just 10 PeopleYou Can Make $50.00, $100.00, $200.00 And More In Your Spare Time - It Costs You Nothing To Try!”, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad soliciting for door-to-door greeting card salespeople to represent “Wallace Brown, Inc.”
- “Make Money - Get Prizes”, a back-cover ad looking for young door-to-door greeting card salespeople to represent the “American Specialty Company”.
ODDBALL Factoid - Cartoonist Howard Post was also the creator of DC’s teenage caveman, ANTHRO!
Bonus ODDBALL Factoid - Noted science fiction and fantasy author Theodore (”It!”) Sturgeon was a big fan of ODDBALL COMICS, attending midnight performances of Scott Shaw!’s slide show presentation at more than one of the San Diego Comic-Cons of the 1970s! In fact, he even contributed a copy of Spire Comics’ ADAM AND EVE to Shaw!’s massive Oddball Comics collection!
* These were the original names of the Ghostly Trio; due to 1995’s CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST feature film, their names have been officially changed to Fatso, Stinky and Stretch. - SS!
** Special thanks to Mark Arnold and his Harveyville Fun Times http://thft.home.att.net/ for valuable research assistance with this ODDBALL COMICS column! **
Popularity: 3% [?]
Hagar (comic books printed) the Horrible February 29, 1986
Hagar the Horrible February 29, 1986
Athenamama posted a photo:
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Lying (comic book movie trailers) In The Gutters
Lying In The Gutters
Rich has the run down for next weekend’s Bristol Comics Expo in the UK, international controversies swirling around FCBD, a new exclusive artist at DC, the Groth/Ellison fight and much more.
The Buy Pile
Losing ground against hyperflies and Extremis and repentant Nazis even while the Hulk calls it a comeback and Mister Terrific stares you down across the board.
T-MINUS: “Countdown” #48
Jimmy Olsen finds a quick fix, Robin makes a low blow and Lightray hits The Wall. Justin and Brian have all the details and speculation in this week’s T-MINUS!
Vertigo to Publish Debut Graphic Novels by Authors Peter Straub and Jay Cantor
“Krazy Kat” novelist Jay Cantor will write his first graphic novel “Aaron and Ahmed” for Vertigo, as will best-selling “The Hellfire Club” author Peter Straub with his debut comics work, “The Green Woman.”
Popularity: 4% [?]
Ultimate X-Men Complete Comic Book Collection (Win/Mac) (fathom comic book)
Ultimate X-Men Complete Comic Book Collection (Win/Mac)
Ultimate X-Men is the wildly successful relaunch that jettisons over forty years of continuity and sets the clock back to the beginning for Marvel’s first group of mutant super heroes. This is a fresh start for the X-Men that begins when they’re still teenagers just becoming a part of Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters and chronicles their new first encounters with Magneto, the Sentinels, Juggernaut, etc. The book is published on a monthly basis and is a cornerstone of the Ultimate Universe, a separate line of comics Marvel produces all sharing the same taking-it-from-the-start philosophy. Ultimate X-men includes 70 issues from February 2001 through May 2006, including annual. It also includes bios of all characters!
CD-ROM:
DVD-VideoUltimate X-Men is the wildly successful relaunch that jettisons over forty years of continuity and sets the clock back,to the beginning for Marvel’s first group of mutant super heroes. This is a fresh start for the X-Men,that begins when they’re still teenagers just becoming a part of Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters and,chronicles their new first encounters with Magneto,
Company:GIT Corp
(2006-05-02)
List Price:$9.99
Amazon Price:$7.26
Used Price:$7.17
Pot’s Greatest Hits
The grass really IS greener on this hilarious CD full of the best pot humor from today’s top comedians including: Doug Benson, Patton Oswalt, Jimmy, Craig Shoemaker, Matt Kirsch, Lowell Sanders, Ron Shock, Brian Posehn, Ngaio Bealum, Arj Barker, Franklyn Ajaye, Jake Iannarino, Todd Glass, Lee Allan, Paul Gilmartin, Jason Gillearn. The CD includes award-winning original song by Rich Hardesty. Voted “Country Song of the Year” at The Marijuana Music Awards in Nimba, Australia 2005.
Plus A Bonus DVD! Included with the audio CD of stand-up comedy is a free DVD. Filmed the same evening as the Pot’s Greatest Hits live show, it features backstage interviews, hilarious personal stories and bonus material from several of the performing comedians.
CD - Approx. 80 Minutes
DVD - Approx. 20 Minutes
Atists:
Various Artists
Audio CD:
Company:Allumination
(2005-08-23)
List Price:$14.98
Amazon Price:$8.69
Used Price:$4.11
Batman DC Comics Steering Wheel Cover
Plasticolor BATMAN steering wheel cover. Universal size fits almost all wheels mostly sized between 14.5″ - 15.5″. These are brand new.
:
Company:Plasticolor
List Price:
Amazon Price:$12.95
Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years
Absolutely MAD DVD Collection collects over 600 issues of MAD magazine, one of the classic humor magazines. Every issue is here, from 1952 to 2006 — 460 issues in all. It also includes most of the Special Editions: XL’s, Super Special and Color Classics. There’s even interviews with the many of the writers, Spy VS Spy animation video, Spy VS Sky Mountain Dew commercials and much more.
DVD-ROM:
CD-ROMEvery issue of MAD Magazine on 2 DVDs,Read every single page as they were originally published - all the stories, letters pages, articles, and advertisements,Includes video clip interviews from the MAD writers and clips of Spy vs Spy animation,Over 600 complete printable issues, cover to cover, that’s over 17,500 scanned pages in full color,A truly interactive experience and can leverage the success of the late night show to introduce MAD Magazine to an entire new generation of consumers.
Company:GIT Corp
(2006-12-15)
List Price:$49.99
Amazon Price:$27.65
Used Price:$29.55
Popularity: 4% [?]
Out Our Way November 25, 1963 (bringing comic books)
Athenamama posted a photo:
Popularity: 4% [?]
Spider-Man 3 Reversible Red-to-Black (book comic marvel poster) Spider-Man Mask and Web Blaster
Spider-Man 3 Reversible Red-to-Black Spider-Man Mask and Web Blaster
You are the web-slinger as you battle evil with Spider-Man gear and accessories! Shoot streams of Web Fluid or load your Dart Blaster to rapid fire 5 darts! Theres even a web holder for your stretchy webs, and a reversible mask that switches from red to black! Spider-Man role-playing kit comes with everything you need to battle evil as the amazing Spider-Man! Includes adjustable web blaster holder, 5-ounce Web Fluid canister, dart blaster, 5 web darts, 3 stretchy webs, stretchy web belt clip and Spider-Man mask. Ages 5 and up.
Toy:
Spider-Man role-playing kit comes with everything you need to battle evil as the amazing Spider-Man!,Includes adjustable web blaster holder,Includes 5-ounce Web Fluid canister,Includes dart blaster, 5 web darts, 3 stretchy webs, stretchy web belt clip and Spider-Man mask
Company:Hasbro
(2007-03-25)
List Price:$19.99
Amazon Price:$19.88
City of Villains Collector’s Edition (DVD-ROM)
City Of Villains is massively multiplayer gaming where players take on the role of a super-powered villain. Go on personalized missions for revenge or conquest — or band together with your friends and become the menace that plagues Paragon City. Work your way up the ladder of a villain organization to gain super powers, then enter Paragon City and begin a reign of terror. Just be ready to deal with Paragon City’s heroes and authorities. Do this successfully, and you’ll create your own organization and erect a secret base. But stay vigilant - your activities will attract more, and more powerful, heroes.Special Collector’s Edition features:
* 14-day free trials of City of Heroes & Lineage II
* Web of Arachnos - NOVEL flyer from CDS Books
* City of Heroes/City of Villains HeroClix Game Map
* 30 days free game play
Comics
Superman - White Accent Wallpaper
Genuine licensed merchandise. Washable and removable. Create that unique accent for your room in minutes! This amazing mural is made with superior prepasted material, a revolutionary fiber that is stronger, easier to install and remove than any other wallpaper. Just roll it out and apply to wall. It does not shrink and therefore does not create any unsightly seams. Later when you want to remove it, simply pick the corners and pull off the wall. It comes off in seconds and in full strips!
:
Pattern: Superman - White,The world’s easiest wallpaper. Made in USA.,Uses superior revolutionary technology for easy installation and remova,Can be hand trimmed for custom appearance,33′ X 20.5″ (56 sq. ft.) wall art mural in 1 or more panels. Includes complete install instructions.
Company:YRK
List Price:$69.99
Amazon Price:$29.95
Popularity: 3% [?]
Comic Strips
A lot of popular culture was created in the 20th century, often beginning in the US and then spreading to the rest of the world. Although very first of the comic strips started in Germany in 1865. (It was a moral tale of two boys who kept getting into mischief and had to be punished.) The first real popularity of the comic strips however, began in American newspapers in the early part of the 20th century. They have appeared in newspapers and in comic books ever since, and now on the Internet.
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 Sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic, the best of them entertain us with creative plots, interesting characters, and art work. Some people are snobbish about them but they’d probably change their minds if they tried to produce one. It’s quite a challenge telling a story frame by frame, within the limitations of speech bubbles or captions. Often, the creation of comic strips involves a pair, with one person being the writer and the other supplying the visuals. There is a real art to drawing comic strips, a fact which Pop Artist Roy Lichtenstein paid tribute to in his series of blown up comic strip frames in the 1960s.Â
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More
Popularity: 3% [?]
May the Source Be With You
Are you a “Star Wars” nut? I’ve seen you with your Luke Skywalker suits and Darth Vader costumes. You’re always the first ones at the special movie premieres and functions. Heck, I even knew a girl who slept in front of the local movie theater for three days to watch on of the new “Star Wars” flicks. She was utterly stoked and didn’t seem to think that the curb made a poor bed. Anyway, do you find yourself lounging at home in a Darth Vader costume? If so, you’re probably a qualified fanatic. Therefore it’s time to get online and check out all the great “Star Wars” collectibles and memorabilia. Oh and, may the mouse be with you.
Ever since I saw the ultimate Darth Vader costume in a local shopping mall back in ‘91, I’ve always wanted a high-tech Darth Vader costume. There was a costume contest going on and the Darth Vader costume took the cake. You’ve got to love that Halloween spirit. So, are you taking on a “Star Wars” character for All Hallows Eve? This is basically the ideal night to do so. Think about it. What other night can you pace the earth in a snazzy Yoda or Darth Vader costume? Okay, well those nerdy “Star Wars” conventions don’t count. We’ve all spotted those on the TV at some point or another. I believe Sci-Fi or some other channel sponsors them.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Comic Books Values
Kids used to be kept in line by the telling of fairy tales. The villains always caught and punished and the handsome Prince got the girl. In modern times, the comic strip explores moral dilemmas and the constant battle between good and evil. Comic books values are very traditional in their nature. Even when stories involve futuristic weapons and out of this world characters, there is a morality at their core.
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No one stands up for the American way more than Superman, even though he’s from out of town. He’s as American as apple pie and is incredibly polite, even to the bad guys. He only uses the necessary amount of violence needed and tries to persuade the villains back on the right track if he can. He stands for truth and good comic book values, even if his fashion sense leaves a lot to be desired.
Â
 The Incredible Hulk is an interesting character. He only erupts into violence when he is frustrated by the immoral deeds of others or when he is met with intolerance. His comic books values are put to the test. The Hulk is a metaphor for the outsider, the guy who is different from us. Society must be judged on how it treats its outsiders. Like Frankenstein’s Monster, the Hulk is never given a chance and has to move from town to town. The Hulk stories are typical of comic book values, teaching us that there should be a place for everyone.
Â
More
Popularity: 3% [?]
Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years (candy comic book art)
Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years
Absolutely MAD DVD Collection collects over 600 issues of MAD magazine, one of the classic humor magazines. Every issue is here, from 1952 to 2006 — 460 issues in all. It also includes most of the Special Editions: XL’s, Super Special and Color Classics. There’s even interviews with the many of the writers, Spy VS Spy animation video, Spy VS Sky Mountain Dew commercials and much more.
DVD-ROM:
CD-ROMEvery issue of MAD Magazine on 2 DVDs,Read every single page as they were originally published - all the stories, letters pages, articles, and advertisements,Includes video clip interviews from the MAD writers and clips of Spy vs Spy animation,Over 600 complete printable issues, cover to cover, that’s over 17,500 scanned pages in full color,A truly interactive experience and can leverage the success of the late night show to introduce MAD Magazine to an entire new generation of consumers.
Company:GIT Corp
(2006-12-15)
List Price:$49.99
Amazon Price:$27.65
Used Price:$29.55
Superman - White Accent Wallpaper
Genuine licensed merchandise. Washable and removable. Create that unique accent for your room in minutes! This amazing mural is made with superior prepasted material, a revolutionary fiber that is stronger, easier to install and remove than any other wallpaper. Just roll it out and apply to wall. It does not shrink and therefore does not create any unsightly seams. Later when you want to remove it, simply pick the corners and pull off the wall. It comes off in seconds and in full strips!
:
Pattern: Superman - White,The world’s easiest wallpaper. Made in USA.,Uses superior revolutionary technology for easy installation and remova,Can be hand trimmed for custom appearance,33′ X 20.5″ (56 sq. ft.) wall art mural in 1 or more panels. Includes complete install instructions.
Company:YRK
List Price:$69.99
Amazon Price:$29.95
Pot’s Greatest Hits
The grass really IS greener on this hilarious CD full of the best pot humor from today’s top comedians including: Doug Benson, Patton Oswalt, Jimmy, Craig Shoemaker, Matt Kirsch, Lowell Sanders, Ron Shock, Brian Posehn, Ngaio Bealum, Arj Barker, Franklyn Ajaye, Jake Iannarino, Todd Glass, Lee Allan, Paul Gilmartin, Jason Gillearn. The CD includes award-winning original song by Rich Hardesty. Voted “Country Song of the Year” at The Marijuana Music Awards in Nimba, Australia 2005.
Plus A Bonus DVD! Included with the audio CD of stand-up comedy is a free DVD. Filmed the same evening as the Pot’s Greatest Hits live show, it features backstage interviews, hilarious personal stories and bonus material from several of the performing comedians.
CD - Approx. 80 Minutes
DVD - Approx. 20 Minutes
Atists:
Various Artists
Audio CD:
Company:Allumination
(2005-08-23)
List Price:$14.98
Amazon Price:$8.69
Used Price:$4.11
Popularity: 4% [?]
Superman - (comic book nation) White Accent Wallpaper
Superman - White Accent Wallpaper
Genuine licensed merchandise. Washable and removable. Create that unique accent for your room in minutes! This amazing mural is made with superior prepasted material, a revolutionary fiber that is stronger, easier to install and remove than any other wallpaper. Just roll it out and apply to wall. It does not shrink and therefore does not create any unsightly seams. Later when you want to remove it, simply pick the corners and pull off the wall. It comes off in seconds and in full strips!
:
Pattern: Superman - White,The world’s easiest wallpaper. Made in USA.,Uses superior revolutionary technology for easy installation and remova,Can be hand trimmed for custom appearance,33′ X 20.5″ (56 sq. ft.) wall art mural in 1 or more panels. Includes complete install instructions.
Company:YRK
List Price:$69.99
Amazon Price:$29.95
Ultimate X-Men Complete Comic Book Collection (Win/Mac)
Ultimate X-Men is the wildly successful relaunch that jettisons over forty years of continuity and sets the clock back to the beginning for Marvel’s first group of mutant super heroes. This is a fresh start for the X-Men that begins when they’re still teenagers just becoming a part of Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters and chronicles their new first encounters with Magneto, the Sentinels, Juggernaut, etc. The book is published on a monthly basis and is a cornerstone of the Ultimate Universe, a separate line of comics Marvel produces all sharing the same taking-it-from-the-start philosophy. Ultimate X-men includes 70 issues from February 2001 through May 2006, including annual. It also includes bios of all characters!
CD-ROM:
DVD-VideoUltimate X-Men is the wildly successful relaunch that jettisons over forty years of continuity and sets the clock back,to the beginning for Marvel’s first group of mutant super heroes. This is a fresh start for the X-Men,that begins when they’re still teenagers just becoming a part of Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters and,chronicles their new first encounters with Magneto,
Company:GIT Corp
(2006-05-02)
List Price:$9.99
Amazon Price:$7.26
Used Price:$7.17
Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006
Author:Roz Chast
Hardcover:
400 pages
Company:Bloomsbury USA
(2006-10-31)
(2006-10-31)
ISBN:158234423X
List Price:$45.00
Amazon Price:$27.00
Used Price:$18.63
Popularity: 5% [?]
Permanent Damage (writing comic books)
Permanent Damage
It’s a big one this week as Steven talks about how comic creators selling their creations to Hollywood isn’t necessarily “selling out,” what program you should or shouldn’t be using to write your comic scripts, a whole boat load of Manga reviews and much more.
Lying In The Gutters
What Keith Giffen will be working on over at Wildstorm and what JM DeMatteis will soon now be working on at Wildstorm, plus news on a “Hitman” series, a Pat Lee/Alex Milne update, Andi Watson’s new Image Comics book and much more.
Popularity: 4% [?]