Annnnnnnd...we're back!

Happy New Year! And you get the presents (while I get the hard work, but hey, I love it!)


cover of Marvel Age #86 (March 1990), pencils and inks by John Byrne, colors by Gregory Wright
Since I wound down Comics Oughta Be Fun! about two an' half bajillion years ago, a lotta stuff has happened. We defied ourselves outta the sleazy reign of the last guy. We got new Marvel and Star Wars TV shows. We got COVID! (Well, I got COVID. But I'm feelin' much better now, thank you!)

That's why it's time to revive my Comics Oughta Be Fun! blog because, frankly, don't we need fun now more than ever?

I spent 2021 posting daily Today in Comics History tidbits up on Twitter an' an awful lotta you liked it, I think. But boy, is Twitter difficult to schedule posts in advance, to search, to look at past posts, and to do multiple image threads. That's why I'm moving Today in Comics History for 2022 and beyond back to the blog here, which'll make it easier to read longer posts and to find older ones. Didja miss a tweet in 2021? No worries: I'll be restoring those to the blog under year 2021 as we go along! And, I'll be creating an index for each day and month so that you can focus on specific dates! (More on that later because I hope to have it operating regularly in a week or so.)

Plus, more fun stuff (it's my middle name, after "the" and before "stuffed")! So please go re-bookmark the Comics Oughta Be Fun! blog. Because, y'know, like the bull sez...Comics Oughta Be Fun!


I'M BACK, BABY!

Bully's Blog Bits!

Greetings, fans of all things stuffed with fluff and beans! Tonight, rather than one post, let's try a plateful of mini-posts to whet your appetite. Remember, take the one closest to you on the tray, and don't throw your toothpicks in the potted plant! It's a little potpourri I like to call Bully's Blog Bits! (Because it won't answer to "Fred.")

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Tony Stark Was a Jerk

More proof that Tony Stark frequently did behave like Robert Downey Jr. on an off day—remember that Tony Stark got hit with a sexual harassment suit filed by Pepper Potts! You file, Pep, file!


Panels from Iron Man: The Iron Age #1 (August 1998), script by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Patrick Zircher, inks by Bob McLeod, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Comicraft

This is why Tony Stark was voted Fortune magazine's Pinchiest Executive three years running.

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The Most Polite Comic of All Time

After all those rude, uncouth #1 issues that hubristically declare they are "collector's items" and "the beginning of an all new era" and "Guest-starring: Wolverine!", it's rather nice to find a comic book #1 cover that takes our feelings into account and is actually about the experience of the reader rather than the comic book itself! Also, if you're not careful, you just might learn something!


Cover of Fat Albert [and the Cosby Kids] #1 (March 1974), art by Warren Tufts

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Whoops! (S.H.I.E.L.D. Division)


Variant cover of S.H.I.E.L.D.* v.1 #3 (October 2010), art by Dustin Weaver and Christina Strain

Remember this handy mnemonic for spelling "Isaac," Marvel: I'm Smacked Amongst Apples Continuously. Or, you could, ya know, just look it up.

But the Little Cool Thing here is artist Dustin Weaver's homage, through the paintings reproduced on the wall, to the weird and disturbing images of Une semaine de bonté [A Week of Kindness], surrealist Max Ernst's bizarre 1934 series of five pamphlets...hey, it's a five-issue limited series! Ernst cut up, pasted and re-arranged etchings and illustrations from Victorian books to portray the days of the week and the elements of the earth.



Caution! Do not read Une semaine de bonté just before bedtime. (Read S.H.I.E.L.D. instead!)

Luckily, Marvel got the spelling right by the time they printed Isaac Newton's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe page:


Page from S.H.I.E.L.D. v.2 #1 (August 2011 )

Oh, sure, sure, he's got a brain the size of a planet, yadda yadda yadda. What I wanna know is: what's his strength level and how long would he last in a throw-down against The Hulk? Not very long, I betcha, Mister So-Called Smarty-Pantaloons Newton, inventor of delicious fig cookies.

You can read more about Une semaine de bonté at Musée d'Orsay website, and check out Dustin Weaver's blog entry showcasing the original SHIELD cover artwork and a guh-orgeous grey tone sketch version!

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Donald Duck likes girl-watching.


Donald Duck comic strip by Bob Karp and Al Taliaferro, reprinted in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #161 (February 1954)

I would scold Donald for ogling human women, but hey, I shouldn't talk.

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Finally, a few words from The Watcher:


Watcher sticker from Topps Marvel Super Heroes Stickers (1976)

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So, that's all, folks! Thanks for sampling the smorgasbord of silliness I whipped up for you!

Oh, wait...I promised you marshmallows, didn't I?


Panel from Uncanny X-Men Annual #8 (1984), concept by Mary Jo Duffy, script by Chris Claremont, pencils and inks by Steve Leialoha, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Tom Orzechowski



Panel from Uncanny X-Men #150 (October 1981), script by Chris Claremont, layouts by Dave Cockrum, finishes by Bob Wiacek, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Jean Simek



Panel from Wolverine v.2 #96 (December 1995), script by Larry Hama, pencils by Adam Kubert and Luciano Lima, inks by Dan Green, colors by Joe Rosas, letters by Richard Starkings

Wow. Wolverine really likes marshmallows, doesn't he?

*Salma Hayek Invents Electrical LASER Device