Saturday, November 30, 2013

(Thanksgiving) Ten of a Kind #382: No Leftovers

Let's celebrate polishing off the rest of that delicious, yummy turkey carcass with this year's Ten of a Kind Thanksgiving Covers! And yep, these are covers I haven't used before in my Thanksgiving posts of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012! (Nor are they duplicated in ComicsAlliance's 50 Comic Book Covers Celebrating Thanksgiving"!) Yes, truly and indeed these are Ten Covers About Thanksgiving That Are Not Leftovers!






Special thanks and a Bull-Prize, with Stuffing and Gravy to Bully-Boooster and frequent COBF commenter Erik Johnson for having this Spirit Section splash when I couldn't find a color version in my own collection! Check out his plentiful Pinterest page on Will Eisner's The Spirit! Thanks, Erik!







And if you're not stuffed yet, there's even more Ten of a Kind here!

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 334: November comes in like an explosion and goes out like an explosion


House ad for Justice League of America #139 and DC Super-Stars #12 [Superboy] (both February 1977) printed in World's Finest Comics #243 (February-March 1977)
Comic cover art: JLA #13: pencils and inks by Neal Adams, colors by Anthony Tollin
DC Super-Stars #13: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Murphy Anderson, colors by Tatjana Wood
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Friday, November 29, 2013

Today in Comics History Future, November 29, 2994: Space-Black Friday gets even worse


from Legion of Super-Heroes (1989 series) #5 (DC, March 1990); script by Tom Bierbaum, Mary Bierbaum, Keith Giffen, with an assist by Al Gordon; pencils by Keith Giffen; inks by Al Gordon; colors by Tom McCraw

Introducing the newest member of our little stuffed family...

PIGCORDION!


Today in Comics History, November 29, 1969: Lois refuses to buy a 1970 calendar


from "Tomorrow I Die!" in Lois Lane #98 (DC, January 1970), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Roussos

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 333: The Dazzling Debut of the Dominoed Daredoll*


House ad for Detective Comics #359 (January 1967); printed in Batman #189 (February 1967)
Comic cover art: pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Murphy Anderson, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

*Yes, they really did call her that, both in the comic book...


Panels from "Batgirl's Costume Cut-Ups!" in Detective Comics #371 (January 1968), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Sid Greene

...and on the TV series:


Dominoed Daredoll!

Thursday, November 28, 2013

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 332: The Great Popcorn demands you buy this comic!


House ad for Western Comics #1 (January 1948); printed in Boy Commandos #25 (January-February 1948)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Howard Sherman, letters by Ira Schnapp

Today in Comics History, Thanksgiving Day: It's Thanksgiving and I'm busy eating mashed potatoes so here's a Thanksgiving comic ad

Here's hoping your Thanksgiving has a special guest appearance by Captain Tootsie!


Tootsie Rolls ad from DC Comics cover-dated January 1955

Today in Comics History, Thanksgiving Day: It's Thanksgiving and I'm busy eating stuffing so here's some Thanksgiving comics

Here's hoping your Thanksgiving is full of wonder!



from Wonder Woman (1942 series) #114 (DC, May 1960), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito, letters by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History, Thanksgiving Day: It's Thanksgiving and I'm busy eating turkey so here's some Thanksgiving comics

Here's hoping your Thanksgiving gives you many special memories!


from Batman #656 (DC, October 2006), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Andy Kubert, inks by Jesse Delperdang, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Nick J. Napolitano

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 331: Underground Comix


House ad for Showcase #48 [Cave Carson: Adventures Under the Earth] (February-March 1964); printed in Challengers of the Unknown #36 (February-March 1964)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Lee Elias
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Nerds of the Golden Age


Panel from the Batman and Robin story "Crime's Cameraman!" in World's Finest Comics #21 (March-April 1946), script by Don Cameron (?), pencils and inks by Win Mortimer

Today in Comics History, November 26, 1984: Earth-2 Batman cuts a sweet deal with Senator McCarthy


from America vs. the Justice Society #1 (DC, January 1985), co-plot and script by Roy Thomas, co-plot by Dann Thomas, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Alfred Alcala and Bill Collins, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by David Cody Weiss

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 330: Even 3,700 years in the future, Carmine Infantino is still designing sidewalks


House ad for Green Lantern #66 (January 1969); printed in Date with Debbi #1 (January 1969)
Comic cover art: pencils by Mike Sekowsky, inks by Murphy Anderson
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Monday, November 25, 2013

Sorry, Wrong Number! Returning True Numbering to Today's Comic Books: Daredevil

Hello folks hello! Let's look at today's news that Marvel's Daredevil comic will end with next February's #36. (Cue the mournful wailing and gnashing of teeth.) Also, an all-new, all- sorta-different Daredevil comic will return with March 2014's Daredevil #1! How do they do that? And more important, why?

Well, the "why" is certainly easy enough to explain: Marvel can no longer count past fifty. Number one issues always sell better. So this will be the fourth Daredevil #1 in its fifty year history, and I suppose we'll be calling it Daredevil volume 4, or Daredevil (2014 series). I like to pay attention to these things, and I hope you note that when I identify a panel or a cover, I try to identify the volume number or series year it's from (unless it's startlingly obvious that there could be no confusion). Still, I'm a big proponent of returning true numbering to today's comic books, and that's what this column—and feature—are all about: what issue number would today's comics be if they were given their "true numbering." And hey, since it's handy (and I have my issues pulled out of the vast underground Bully Climate-Controlled Vault o' Comics, Aisle "D"), shall we examine the comic without fear of starting its numbering over again with #1, Daredevil!




365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 329: The second-most important wedding that happened on November 25


House ad for Batman #122 (March 1959); printed in Detective Comics #265 (March 1959)
Comic cover art: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Stan Kaye, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Happy anniversary, Randi and John!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Psylocke Psunday #21: Everybody Hates Psylocke

G'day! The X-Men are in Australia, not that you can tell from this week's assortment of panels depicting the X-Men hanging around inside. Perhaps a notable X-inclusion for this period is Madelyne Pryor, evil Goblin Queen clone of Jean Grey, who, prior (see what I did there?) to the events of the "Inferno" crossover was not only accepted by the X-Men but also allowed to fill up very nearly an entire panel with her interior monologue. Among the Claremont mutants of the time, that's a positive boon and certainly allowed her to fit in among them without being detected.


Panels from Uncanny X-Men #230 (June 1988), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Marc Silvestri, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski

And where is out pink-clad purple-haired Psylocke? She's cooking dinner. Good to know everyone on the X-Men pulls their culinary weight. To be fair, Storm and Dazzler are pulling out plates and Longshot and Rogue are setting the table (careful, Rogue! Don't absorb the power of a stainless steel spork!), but Colossus, Wolverine, Havok, and Madelyne are just standing around doin' nothing. Geez, at least go and wash your hands, dudes! (Especially you, Wolverine.)


And then they all had a very merry Outback Christmas! And finally Dazzler got that new chin she'd been asking Santa for.


Unfortunately, the most interesting thing that happens to Psylocke during this time period is that she gets a new, armored uniform. Here's the intriguing origin story of that exciting new uniform...


Panel from Uncanny X-Men #232 (August 1988), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Marc Silvestri, inks by Dan Green, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski

Exciting, wasn't it?!?

We also see some more...I hesitate to call it evolution, because it only crops up at random moments when Claremont needs some tension...let's call it another instance of Psylocke's bloodthirsty nature, in which she simultaneously threatens the magistrates of mutant island Genosha as well as performing a pretty aggressive back-arch ass-thrust. Yes, it's the beginning of the Psylocke we all know!


Panel from Uncanny X-Men #236 (Late October 1988), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Marc Silvestri, inks by Dan Green, colors by Petra Scotese, letters by Tom Orzechowski

Eye color: still blue. Also blue: the white of her eye. I mean, the blue of her eye.

This is not to say that readers all universally loved the emigre from Marvel UK. Here's a handful of representative letters print into UXM #230-232 about Ms. Purple, and they were not fawning.


Next up in Psylocke's psensational psaga: I have no idea. I actually quit reading X-Men* after #236. Why? Because of these scenes:





Really...really? Really? No, Claremont, no.



Anyway, I have no idea what happened next to Psylocke, but I do know that it's not too long off that she'll undergo a major change. Hint? You want a hint? Sure!


Whatever happens, we'll find out together, huh?

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 328: Is the answer "he poops his little bat-pants?"


House ad for Batman #147 (May 1962); printed in Detective Comics #303 (May 1962)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Sheldon Moldoff, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp,