And to think I've lasted this long without ever considering Simon Bar Sinister's genitals. Oh thank you so very, very much, Charlton.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
What the Sam Scratch is goin' on here?!? #9
And to think I've lasted this long without ever considering Simon Bar Sinister's genitals. Oh thank you so very, very much, Charlton.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Free Spidey!
Oh, okay. It cost me a quarter. But I got a nifty swell tabloid newspaper with it!
Starting a few weeks ago and running for the next six months, newspapers across the country are giving away free classic Amazing Spider-Man comic book serializations in their papers. I got mine in the tabloidy folds of Thursday New York Post ("Still only 25¢!"), a newspaper that makes The Daily Bugle look like The New York Times and that has featured such fine journalistic headlines like HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR. (And no, I'm not jealous just because I have never been pictured on "Page Six.")
Even if you don't subscribe to the sensationtastic Post, you can be on the lookout for Spidey comics in papers around the country: here's a full list of where the promotion is running. Boo, hiss: the Post is only running the inserts through October! I'm getting on the phone right now to Rupert Murdoch and giving him what for! (Also, for canceling Arrested Development and Firefly. Bad Rupert! Bad! Bad!)
This week's free Spidey is the first half of Amazing Spider-Man #2 and for a free giveaway it's a pretty cool item. It's comic book-sized and completely printed on newsprint (no glossy cover), but the reproduction of Ditko's linework is crisp and clean and the coloring is bright and vibrant. (I don't own the first Spidey Marvel Masterworks, but I'd would not be surprised if the reprints come straight from that book project.) It reprints the first twelve pages of Spider-Man #2 plus a gorgeous Ditko Peter Parker/Spidey pin-up ('member those?). There are only two ads: a "try to win a car by spending money texting a message on your cell phone" ad on the back and, on the inside front cover, an ad for SmartSource.com, an online supermarket coupon service that appears to be sponsoring the reprint project, but which could take some lessons in proper usage of apostrophes:
Incidentally, despite the cover's black border, "collectible series" heading, and "not for resale" indicia, how long do you think it will take until people are walking into comic book stores, slapping this down on the counter and declaring "How much will you pay me for Spider-Man number 2 from 1963?" and then getting all moody and stompy when they're told to take a hike. Let us know when, not if, that happens, Mike Sterling!
In many ways, this whole project is what I like to call A Very Good Thing: it presents early, primal, back-to-the-basics stories for the general non-comic book reading public that mirror the Spidey seen in the movies and that folks will remember from the cartoon series: bold, action-filled, but uncomplicated by iron armor, Civil Wars and divulged secret IDs. In other words, this is the perfect introduction to comic books for kids and adults who have never touched them before, and I surely don't have to tell you that Lee and Ditko's early Spider-Man comics are pretty solid work in and of themselves: fairly straightforward in plot but dynamic, vibrant art and a story that's absolutely stuffed chock-full of the standard, primal Spidey elements everyone knows, loves, recognizes and absolutely associates with Spider-Man:
Peter Parker: Science Nerd!
Peter Parker: Science Genius!
J. Jonah Jameson! Not as editor-in-chief of the Bugle, but as multimedia conglomerate chief and publisher of Now magazine. Ya gotta admire his sticking with the "all villains, all the time" press coverage. Years before the media coverage of O.J., the man knows that crime sell papers.
Triple-J's appearance in this issue might surprise modern or movie-era Spidey readers, though: by later standards, the man's practically a pussycat! An immediate check, Jonah? Adjust his medications, nurse, he's not quite right!
The first appearance of the Spider-Cam!
There're a few things not quite in place yet.
Hey, where's your spider-sense, Petey?
Oh, there it is! (Isn't this a gorgeous panel? Check out that pose and the shaded buildings behind Spidey...Ditko is a freakin' genius!)
Speaking of genius, here's a beautiful sequence that's almost an early trial run for the amazing "lifting up the machinery" sequence in Spider-Man #33. Ditko=genius.
I also wonder if it would have made sense for the Post to beef up its anemic comic strip section (seriously...one of the smallest strip selections I've ever seen in a paper that has one) by adding the Spider-Man comic strip and running a line above it each day: "Pick up Thursday's Post for your free Spider-Man color comic!" Now, I'm sad to say the Spidey strip these days is no great shakes (witness some recent examples at the always hilarious comic strip criticism blog The Comics Curmudgeon), but when have newspaperfolk been so blind of the concept of synergy? (Note: I'm not certain whether the Spidey strip runs in the competing Daily News or now; if it does, this renders my point moot.
Who's dropping the ball in this series of missed opportunities? Marvel, for not developing and requiring a specific growth of the industry plan to go along with licensing these freebie comics? The Post, for failure to capitalize on potential and growth and buzz on a running promotion? Is J. Jonah Jameson to blame? Whatever. Free comics are a good, good thing and I heartily recommend these fun and nicely produced Spidey reprints. But I'm a long-time comics-reading fan, so they are preaching to the converted with me. As I often ask: where is our next generation of comic readers going to come from? There were chances to bring some on board with this project, but while the ball isn't completely dropped, the inability to connect all these potential new comics fans with a specific comic book store is a juggling fumble for our team.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Makin' Kevin beaucoup jealous.
Sure, he's got the fame, the wealth, the babes, the cool-lookin' blog, the Boing Boing traffic, and exceptional skill in photographing toys, but what have I got that Kevin "BeaucoupKevin" Church don't have?
A: An advance copy of the new Pet Shop Boys Catalogue book from Thames & Hudson!
Ooooh, shiny! So shiny that like a vampire, it's hard to take a photo of it.
So reflective you could defeat Medusa with it. (PS: That sticker peels right off.)
Almost 2000 illustrations, over 1700 in color, meaning every single one of your favorite albums and single releases gets featured in depth, including rare collector's items Kevin probably has squirreled away in his Uncle Scrooge-like Pet Shop Boys bin. Lots of photography in colors so candy-bright you wanna lick 'em! But don't.
Also features stills from all of their videos plus filming history, and lots more besides: Christmas cards, Literally magazine, interviews, chronology, concert images, one-off special events, tour programmes, introductory essay and histories plus the proverbial much much more.
It's the perfect gift for you or your pop-savvy friends.
Buy one, buy several, buy one for Dusty Springfield.
If you're a fan of Pet Shop Boys, there's no better way to celebrate their twentieth anniversary than popping on a CD or vinyl of their tunes and settling down in a comfy armchair with a cup of hot tea and this book. Kevin, stop drooling, 'coz your copy will be in your hands towards the end of September. The rest of you can find it in starting in early October at your local bookstore (as always, support your independent bookseller!), or if you can't find it or want it by mail, click to the right to pre-order it through Amazon.com at a discount. Tell 'em Bully sent you. If you don't, how can you expect to be taken seriously?
A: An advance copy of the new Pet Shop Boys Catalogue book from Thames & Hudson!
So reflective you could defeat Medusa with it. (PS: That sticker peels right off.)
Buy one, buy several, buy one for Dusty Springfield.
If you're a fan of Pet Shop Boys, there's no better way to celebrate their twentieth anniversary than popping on a CD or vinyl of their tunes and settling down in a comfy armchair with a cup of hot tea and this book. Kevin, stop drooling, 'coz your copy will be in your hands towards the end of September. The rest of you can find it in starting in early October at your local bookstore (as always, support your independent bookseller!), or if you can't find it or want it by mail, click to the right to pre-order it through Amazon.com at a discount. Tell 'em Bully sent you. If you don't, how can you expect to be taken seriously?
More good old fashioned nightmare fuel.
And here's the second most disturbing comic book cover in the history of the medium...

Man, this is a whole new twist on the Fred/Barney relationship I didn't wanna even consider. No wonder, with that unending power struggle over Fruity Pebbles.
Man, this is a whole new twist on the Fred/Barney relationship I didn't wanna even consider. No wonder, with that unending power struggle over Fruity Pebbles.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
The most disturbing comic book cover in the history of the medium.
Some may say it's this one:

Others may say it's this one:

But they're both wrong. For this little bull's money, there's no more disturbing comic book cover in the history of the medium than this:

Others may say it's this one:
But they're both wrong. For this little bull's money, there's no more disturbing comic book cover in the history of the medium than this:
Monday, September 04, 2006
Today in Comics History, Labor Day: Extremely obvious Labor Day post
cover of Batman: The Long Halloween #12 (DC, November 1997), pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright (?)
Let's start counting: how many comic blogs will feature the exact same image today?
Ah well, we're entitled to be lazy. Take the day off, spend it with friends and family, and enjoy yourself. Me? I'm off to the park for the last picnic of the summer, plus fried chicken, potato salad, lemonade and chocolate cake. See you tomorrow, and Happy Labor Day!
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Long Live the Legion!
If you ask me, however, what the best thing about joining the Legion is, I'd have to say: the ultra-cool Flight Ring!:
Reviews: The smirk of Luthor
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