Today in Comics History, October 4, 1989: Graham Chapman cleverly escapes another Python meeting

from Comics: Monty Python one-shot (Bluewater, April 2014), script by Chris Canibano, pencils and colors by Juan Luis Rincón, letters by Gary Scott Beatty
(We miss you, Graham.)

A Sugar and Spike Halloween, Night 4: The startling return of Paper Doll Month

"Pint-Size Pin-Ups: Halloween Special" in Sugar and Spike #31 (October-November 1960); script, pencils, and inks by Sheldon Mayer

A Sugar and Spike Halloween, Night 3: D&D is not healthy for children and other living beings

Panel from "A Real Halloween Goblin" in Sugar and Spike #55 (October-November 1964); script, pencils, and inks by Sheldon Mayer

Comics News for October 2, 2014

Top: panel from Superman series subscription ad in DC Comics cover dated June 1989. Izzat Jerry Ordway artwork there?
Middle: panel from the Batman story "The Riddler" in Detective Comics #140 (October 1948), script by Bill Finger, pencils by Dick Sprang, inks by Charles Paris
Bottom: panel portion from Lobo (2014 series) #1 (December 2014), script by Cullen Bunn, pencils by Reilly Brown, inks by Nelson Decastro, colors by Pete Pantazis, letters by Travis Lanham

Paper Doll Month, Extra!!: Lady, That's My Paper Doll

Not many people remember that I was actually in a Disney movie with Hayley Mills...


Panels from That Darn Bull! one-shot (February 1966), pencils and inks by Dan Spiegle
That's okay, because my good pal Sleestak, master of all he surveys over at his blog Lady, That's My Skull, knows all about my long movie career with his favorite actress, including my brief cameo appearance in Disney's European romance-adventure The Moon-Spinners.


Panels from the Moon-Spinners one-shot (October 1964), pencils and inks by Dan Spiegle
Anyway, not only is Sleestak the world's foremost collector of Dell Comics starring Ms. Mills and yours truly, but he's also been a fan of my recent Paper Doll Month! And when we had a discussion via the internet-matron about paper dolls and Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy, and a particular comic strip so surreal that even Salvador Dalí was heard to exclaim "No puedo creerlo! Este joven llamado Sluggo, que está flotando en el aire! Es un desafío a la imaginación!" (Translation: "Ay carumba!"):


Nancy comic strip (April 27, 1953), by Ernie Bushmiller
Sleestak brilliantly then came up with

The Greatest Paper Dolls Ever Made

...and I've put that in really bold text with a hyperlink because I'm not gonna show it to you, you gotta click over to see it.

Then, when you're done being amazing at The Greatest Paper Dolls Ever Made, cap off Paper Doll Month by checking out his paper doll mash-up of me with Lady Cassandra from TV's Doctor Who. I was flattened by this homage!

What are you waiting for? make with the clickety-clicks to see

The Greatest Paper Dolls Ever Made!

Tell Sleestak Bully sent ya!

Today in Comics History, October 2, 2013: Fox News viewer's typewriter explodes

from "Captain Midnight: Captain Misinformation" in CBLDF Liberty Annual 2013 one-shot (October 2013), script by Josh Williamson, pencils and inks by Dennis Culver, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Nate Piekos

Today in Comics History, October 2: Thor gets the general concept of, but not the lyrics to, "It's Raining Men."

from Thor: Season One graphic novel (Marvel, October 2013), script by Lilah Sturges, pencils and inks by Pepe Larraz, colors by Wil Quintana, letters by Cory Petit


from The Simpsons "Fear of Flying," season 6 episode 11 (Gracie Films/20th Television, December 18, 1994), written by David Sacks, directed by Mark Kirkland


"It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls (CBS/Columbia, 1982), written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer, music video directed by Gary Keys


"It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell (EMI, 2001)


from The Simpsons "Fear of Flying"


"It's Raining Men" by The HoneyBuns on Britain's Got Talent Semi-Final 2 (Thames, 26 May 2015)


from The Simpsons "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting," season 25 episode 19 (Gracie Films/20th Television, April 27, 2014), written by John Frink, directed by Matthew Nastuk


"It's Raining Men... The Sequel," by Martha Wash and RuPaul (Logic/Rhino, 1998)

A Sugar and Spike Halloween, Night 2: No, kids! That's how zombie epidemics start!

Panel from "The Halloween Monsters" in Sugar and Spike #37 (October-November 1961); script, pencils, and inks by Sheldon Mayer

I'm New Sunfire! Now, I'm Old Sunfire! Now I'm New Sunfire again!

Panels from Captain America (2013 series) #25 (December 2014); script by Rick Remender; pencils by Carlos Pacheco with Stuart Immonen; inks by Mariano Taibo with Wade von Grawbadger; colors by Dean White, Veronica Gandini, and Marte Gracia, letters by Joe Maramagna

Today in Comics History, October 1, 2000: Liberal media misrepresents news story, forgets to blame Obama

from Translucid #2 (Boom!, May 2014), script by Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert, pencils and inks by Daniel Bayliss, colors by Adam Metcalfe, letters by Ed Dukeshire

Today in Comics History, October 1: Mad scientist Erwin Schrödinger is at last able to teleport savory cheese inside the delicious baked crust of delivery pizza

from Scratch9 Free Comic Book Day 2013 (Hermes, May 2013), script by Rob M. Worley, pencils and inks by Joshua Buchanan, colors by Digikore Studios, letters by Rob M. Worley

A Sugar and Spike Halloween, Night 1: Don't forget to check your candy for spikes

BWAHHHHHHH! (In my spooky vampire voice.) It's once again time for that orangy-and-blackiest holiday of them all, Halloween! Which is coming up in only thirty-one short, chilly fall nights, so you'd better stock up on candy to hand out now. I really mean it. Do not run out of Halloween candy! This month, all month, you should be checking my humble little puppet-town cow-blog for titanic tales of those terrifying tots, those beastly babbling babies, the carrot- and tow-headed kids of komedy, of whom it has been said, and well-said: bplsfhh! That's right: it's time for the pair that's a precious as a pumpkin but in more mischief than a monstrous mummy: it's A Sugar and Spike Halloween! And, as in pervious spine-tingling Octobers, I'm once again part of the Countdown to Halloween web ring of Halloweeny horror! Because, y'knowm two kids, not toilet trained yet...horrific! Be sure to visit the other members of Countdown to Halloween for lots of other fun stuff leading up to our scariest day, because I'm pretty sure you'll find witches, goblins, ghouls, vampires, and a Frankenstein or two in there.

So, in the words of Bernie the Brain: let us commence our celebration of A Sugar and Spike Halloween!


Splash panel from "Sugar and Spike Tackle Halloween" in Sugar and Spike #31 (October-November 1960); script, pencils, and inks by Sheldon Mayer

Paper Doll Month, Day 30: They're the cross-dressing Stone Age family

Yes, what once started out as a cute and charming toy for little girls to cut out and play with, has eventually produced this: Gender-Swapped Flintstones Paper Dolls.


"Fred and Barney Paper Dolls" from The Flintstones and the Jetsons #4 (DC, November 1997), pencils by Glen Hanson (?)
Yep, it's from an issue where Fred and Barney wish that they could have the "easy life" Wilma and Betty do, staying home in the house day after day while they have to slave away in the rock quarry, so Harvey Korman The Great Gazoo makes it so!


Cover of The Flintstones and the Jetsons #4 (DC, November 1997); pencils, inks, and colors by Glen Hanson
But hey, what happened to Wilma and Betty, you ask?


DON'T ASK

In concluding this Paper Doll Month: I'm sorry that I wasn't able to bring you anything from Bunty, but I'm pleased that I was able to keep my promise of no Katy Keene.

A special Movin' On Up to the East Side Bull-Prize to my good pal "Marvelous" Mike Sterling for getting this altogether wacky comic into my sweaty little hooves!

Paper Doll Month, Day 29: Car-tozia Talk

Just to prove that paper doll pages are not only features from by-gone fashion and romance magazines or modern-day spoofs, here's a couple paper dolls from Cartozia Tales, the shared-world indie-comics anthology series edited by my good pal Isaac Cates!

Issue #5 of the series has just been published, featuring new work from Eleanor Davis, Shawn Cheng, Corinne Mucha, and Luke Pearson, plus a beautiful fold-out full-color adventure map by Jason Thompson! The series has been a fave of mine (you can read my gushing review of it here, not merely because of, but certainly contributing to my love of it...paper dolls!

Postcards: "Cartozia Tales Paper Figures: Reshii and Sylvia," published to accompany Cartozia Tales #2 (September 2013); art by Lucy Bellwood
(Click picture to Cartosisize)


"Cartozia Tales Paper Figures: Reshii and Sylvia" from Cartozia Tales #2 (September 2013); art by Lucy Bellwood
Rather than providing a larger format of the paper doll clothes just above here on my site, clicking on the clothes image will take you to the Cartozia Tales website where you can download a printable PDF of the outfits! And while you're there, take a look around Cartozia.com for news, sample stories, creator bios and much more! You can order the comics right here, as well as follow Cartozia on Twitter!

Paper Doll Month, Day 28: Patsy Walker, Then and Now

"Patsy's Fashion Page" from Patsy Walker #119 (February 1965), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Sol Brodsky, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Sam Rosen


"Patsy Walker's Battlesuits" from Marvel Romance Redux: I Should Have Been a Blonde one-shot (July 2006), new script by Jeff Parker, new colors by Tom Smith, new letters by Dave Lanphear