Fun Fifty of 2007: Part 2 of 5

The countdown to adventure continues! But we're not looking for Ray Palmer—we all know he's hidin' out inside Starfire's uniform. (Well, wouldn't you?) Instead, we're continuing the countdown of my favorite Fun Fifty of 2007. If it's fun, it's in here, baby! Yesterday, as you may remember, we covered numbers 50 through 41, so today, in a shock surprising twist, we move to numbers 40 through 31. On with the countdown!


#40: THE COMPLETELY MAD DON MARTIN Sure, it's not goin' for the price of a usual issue of MAD magazine (cheap!), but save your dimes up for this elegant slipcased set: every single page of MAD magazine work from MAD's Maddest Artist. Plus, at 25 pounds, you can whack rats with it! This is a book that you'll be proud to own and display, but don't let it just sit on your bookshelf—tug it out and read some Don Martin a day, every day. It doesn't contain Don's brilliant original paperback book work (clearly fodder for another volume!), but in between these four covers you'll find everything he wrote for MAD: every single AAHT AAHHT BLOOOOT, CHUGA CHUGA CHUGA CHUGA, PLOOSH FLAPF, SPITZ SPOPPLE SPATZ, and GLIP SHPIKKLE GLUP GAPLORK SHLIPP SPLOP GLIT PLOBBLE SHLORP GLOOP BLOP SKLOP SHLURP PLiPPLE SLOTCH SHLOOP.


#39: JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS Speaking of sets of big books, here's four big books collecting the biggest stories about the biggest heroes by the biggest creator in the business. That's a whole lotta big for your buck, buster! Kirby's masterpiece is presented for the first time in chronological order so you can see how the pieces originally fit together. The paper is closer to newsprint than glossy, but it holds and presents the vibrant colors and solid blacks brilliantly. Three volumes were released in 2007 with a fourth to follow later this year. How much do I recommend these books? Well, to paraphrase the King: Bully says "Don't Ask! Just Buy It!"


#38: THE TRIAL OF COLONEL SWEETO If your local alternative paper doesn't carry Nicholas Gurewitch's brilliant and batty Perry Bible Fellowship comic strip, then you oughta be checking him out online. But even if you faithfully read his comics on the web, run, don't walk, to your local bookstore and grab yourself a candy-colored copy of The Trial of Colonel Sweeto, the first book collection (we can but hope there will be many many more) of the strip. Gurewitch is not only a wonderful humorist and a fantastic artist, he's also an amazing designer: his style and even typography changes from strip to strip to fit the story and the humor to create some of the most hilarious and beautiful comics being done today, from classics like "Penguin Enemy," "Kitty Heaven," "Hey Goat," "Guntron Alliance Force" and several pages of never-seen strips. They're not only beautiful, they're laugh-out-loud.


#37: THE BLACK DIAMOND DETECTIVE AGENCY Eddie Campbell: Cool guy. Great Artist. Fantastic hair. And, maker of one of the Funnest Comics of 2007: The Black Diamond Detective Agency, an adaptation of a (not-yet-filmed) screenplay by C. Gaby Mitchell (Blood Diamond). It's a perfect story for Campbell: a turn-of-the-century Pinkerton-type firm hunts down the mystery criminal behind a deadly railway bombing. But is the leading suspect really the culprit? Campbell's unique and expressive artwork is perfect for the moody mystery tale, and if it's not as brilliant as From Hell, it evokes the same level of time and place with distinct details and an incisive and entertaining look at American Victorian-era police procedures.


#36: FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS All hail Bahlactus, grand cosmic funk master of the galaxy! The creator of the ultimate Galactus homage site (also featuring solid and informative looks at black heroes in comics, like the Falcon and the Milestone heroes) cemented his authority over the blogosphere in 2007 with the introduction of the infectious Friday Night Fights meme, the ultimate comics bloggers' fighting league. On Friday night when the bell rings, comics bloggers all around the world post panels or stories featuring fight scenes, and Bahlactus gathers them into a raucous round-up post, giving announcer's commentary to the power and might of the four-color knock-outs. One of the beautiful things I've enjoyed most about FNF is its simplicity: you can post a panel with a thrown punch, or if you're feelin' more ambitious, you can discuss a entire fight scene or story in depth—it's all copacetic with the Big B. FNF is still going strong in 2008; although I don't participate every week, I'm always looking for great fight comics and thrust my hooves into my boxing gloves and punch onto the web. Bahlactus has even begun offering prizes for the knock-out of the week, but in many ways, the fighting is its own reward.


#35: LAIKA The sublimely-drawn, touchingly-scripted tale of the first astronaut—the rescued mongrel mutt launched into outer space by the Russians aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. Nick Abadzis's expressive art reminded me of Herge, but he avoids the hyper-intelligence of Tintin's Snowy by avoiding anthropomorphizing Laika. Laika's story is paralleled with those of her human trainer and the engineer in charge of the Sputnik project. Even if you know your space history and the eventual fate of Laika you'll shed an unexpected tear at this touchingly-wri8tten and beautifully-drawn dogography.


#34: READING COMICS I've met Douglas Wolk and he's a heckuva nice guy. But even if I didn't know him, I still woulda enjoyed his book of comics history and criticism Reading Comics. Genial, spirited, sometimes argumentative and opinionated but never uninteresting, Douglas strolls through the work and influence of classic creators old and new and addresses the divide that a lot of fans find difficult to straddle: superheroes and art comics. I especially enjoyed the second part of the book, each chapter of which focuses on a specific creator and their work, ranging from Eisner to Starlin's Warlock to Alan Moore and Steve Ditko. You're never going to agree 100% with the opinions expressed in a book of criticism like Reading Comics—even genial little me got riled up a bit reading the second chapter—but Wolk doesn't settle for just telling you about the comics not tells you what to think, he helps teach you how to think about them.


#33: SIMPSONS COMICS In a year highlighted by a big-screen premiere and a dandy videogame, The Simpsons franchise continued to be done proud by the good folks at Bongo Comics not only in their flagship Simpsons title but various spin-offs: Bart Simpson, Simpsons Super-Spectacular and various seasonal specials. Like the TV series itself, it's business as usual but always a delight and fun read in the Simpsons comics: Homer trundles around Springfield on a Rascal scooter, tall tales are told, and 24 is deftly parodied (a couple months before the TV show itself!). Pound for pound, month after month, Simpsons Comics continue to provide solid bellylaughs and the most consistent fun of any licensed comic line.


#32: POPEYE THE SAILOR: 1933-1938, VOL. 1 Toss away those crappy public-domain cartoon DVDs from the dollar store: here's the ultimate collection of the gorgeous high-adventures Popeye shorts from the 1930s. Produced by the famous Fleischer Cartoon Studios, these are "the good stuff"—the Popeye cartoons that open up with the titles on the ship's doors, from the heyday of cinematic cartoons. There's plenty of documentary extras and hours of commentaries here, as well as silent cartoons and the gorgeous longer "two-reelers" that featured amazing 3-D-style background animation that set the Fleischers apart from their competitors—60 crispy and sharply restored cartoons in all. Best of all, check that subtitle: this is only Volume 1 and there's more to come.


#31: MOOMIN: THE COMPLETE TOVE JANSSON COMIC STRIP, BOOK TWO The Moomintroll children's novels by Tove Jansson are cheerful, quirky and moody, and her Moomin comic strip, collected in a second stunning collection from Drawn & Quarterly, follows in the same Moomin-footsteps. Here are tales of discovering prehistoric Moomins, Moominvalley in mid-winter, long-staying guests, and a most miserable maid, all in Jansson's own fluid and crisp black-and-white artwork. D+Q has done this series proud with its oversized and sharply-designed series look. If you grew up (like me) alongside Moomin and the Snork Maiden and Snufkin and Sniff, rediscover your childhood friends in comics form. If you've never met a Moomin, well, this is the perfect medium to make their fuzzy, chubby acquaintances.


Whew! That'sa lotsa fun. How, oh, how, can we top that tomorrow? Maybe we can't! That's just the risk you'll have to take, Bully-backers! Tune in tomorrow: same bull time, same bull channel, for countdown numbers 30 through 21!

Today in Comics History, January 31: Goin' Bananas on National Gorilla Suit Day

Hi hi hi everyone! It's me, Bully! No, it really it is me: I'm in my gorilla suit! That's because it's the most wonderful day of the year: National Gorilla Suit Day! I certainly hope you are wearing your gorilla suit today too. I could hardly sleep last night: I laid out my suit before I went to bed and I kept getting up to look at it all through the night! (But you're not allowed to put it on until morning). And you do have to go to sleep! While you are sleeping, The Great Ape swings in through your window, helps himself to the coconuts you have left out, goes through your fridge and makes himself a banana daquiri, and then blesses your gorilla suit with a loving "ook ook" before he swings on down the street! So you can only imagine my thrills when I woke up and found banana peels on the kitchen floor and the blender had been used! Hooray! I climbed right into my suit—I only need a little help zipping it up the back—and set about having an fun-filled day of the most exciting National Gorilla Suit Day activities:


First, I sat and read the full history of National Gorilla Suit Day. Remember that National Gorilla Suit Day is not just about the bananas and the ooking...it's a day to honor MAD's maddest artist, Don Martin! We in ape costumes salute you, Don!


from MAD #480 (August 2007)
A little traditional NGSD snack is always appropriate. Also, yummy!


Hooray! Cartoons! This one's fun any day but especially significant today!


A classic movie is appropriate viewing today too. Make sure you cheer for the right character! Knock those planes down, King!


Speaking of gorillas: those of you who were following my London blog know that I was obsessed with getting those wonderful vinyl figures of the band Gorillaz. I didn't buy them over in the UK but much to my surprise they were available over here, so they were my special National Gorilla Suit Day present! Hooray! Set 'em out, put on your G-Sides CD, and it's just like being in a Jamie Hewlett cartoon! Except Tank Girl is nowhere to be found. Darn.


My gorilla suit was getting a bit hot and whiffy, so in the evening I took it off to play with my new action figures. I know that shocks some of you. "Keep them in the box, Bully!" you scold. "If you take them out and play with them you'll ruin their resale value! How will you even sell them in eBay later?" To which I say to you: "Pfui!" Toys were made to be played with. If you don't take 'em out of the box and set 'em up and move 'em around and make them clash in Infinite Crises of Ultimate Secret Wars, what good are they? If you keep your toys in the cases and never take them out, you may as well just lock them away in a steel vault. I bet you seal your comics in those cheesy CGC plastic cases without even readin' 'em! People like that have no idea how to have fun.


F'r instance, why not join your favorite cartoon band in an impromptu jam session? Here I am plunking along with Gorillaz. Miss Noodle said I was a very good banjo plucker. Mister Murdoc said I was some other kind of plucker, I think.


Now it is time for a megaconcert for the City of London! Everybody sing along! "Don't get lost in heaven/They got locks on the gate."


Suddenly, giant mutant Kitten Kong (my kittycat Gus!) crashes the concert!


Londoners flee in terror as the giant kitten stampedes through the panicked city, knocking over the Post Office Tower and toppling the Gherkin! (Well, every cloud has a silver lining, I guess.)


Music may have charms to sooth a feline beast, but even the awesome power of Gorillaz rock can not stop her rampage!


Who can stop the terrifying giant kitten? Who can stop the terrible rampage? Who? Who? Teeny-tiny Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, puts out the call for help!


Vworp...vworp...vworp... Hooray! The Doctor and Rose arrive to save the city and drive off the giant mutant kitten! Hoorah!


Using the awesome power of timey-wimey stuff, The Doctor puts London back almost as good as new!


"I'm not the tin dog!" protests 2D.


Now it is time for a fabulous jam concert to celebrate. Everybody sing!


But Kitten Kong plots her revenge! The End...?


So, as you can see, it was quite the best National Gorilla Suit Day of them all. Hope you had a action-and-fun-packed one as well!