It seems to me that the reaction the John Byrne Forum had to this interview with Daniel Way (writer of Marvel's Ant Man mini) was exactly the response Way was hoping for.

I'm sure his gag about not knowing who Giant Man or Yellowjacket were probably caused heart palpitations in some hardcore Marvelites somewhere, too.

posted by Mikester  @ 19:38 | |

I don't buy very many back issues any more...given that I've been reading comics for (gack) 30 years, I already have most of the funnybooks from the last few decades in which I'd have any interest.

However, there are a few things I do keep an eye out for...I collect old fanzines (The Comic Reader in particular), the occasional inexpensive Archie or Superman-family related comic from the 50s and early 60s, The Fox and The Crow by Jim Davis (no, not that Jim Davis)...

...and anything that contains any work by Sheldon Mayer.

Given that it seems increasingly unlikely that we'll see any extensive reprinting of Mayer's work (despite the recent reissue of the first Sugar & Spike and the high hopes of the DC Archives page, as seen by the mock-ups here and here), I've been buying his work whenever I come across it. Sugar & Spike and, to a lesser extent, Three Mouseketeers (though he didn't do all of these) are relatively easy to track down, finding some of his other work requires digging through the back-up stories in titles like The Dodo and The Frog or Nutsy Squirrel. I still haven't come across any of his Scribbly material, though, aside from a reprint in A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics. Mayer's work is always worth the search, and it's a damn shame today's kids won't get exposed to it.

It's even more of a damn shame that if today's kids were exposed to Sugar & Spike, they'd think it was just a Rugrats rip-off.

Additional linkage:

There was a short Golden Age Red Tornado story by Mayer that appeared in Secret Origins #29 in the late 1980s.

An interview with Mayer's daughter appeared in an issue of Comic Book Artist, which is online here, with lots of art by Mayer.

posted by Mikester  @ 21:27 | |

It's getting to be the end of the year, and it's that time when everyone starts making their lists of best, worst, and most notable whatevers. (You can find a fairly comprehensive collection of links to lists of this sort right here.)

I don't really have a Best/Worst list for the year, but one category that I would have mentioned is this one:

THE COMIC THAT FINALLY GOT ME TO READ MANGA: Gyo Vol. 1 by Junji Ito - I've never had anything against manga, and I've had only a passing interest in it as a whole...my interest in comics history would lead me to read articles and histories of manga, for example, without actually reading any manga (I recommend the excellent Manga Manga: The World of Japanese Comics by Frederik L. Schodt). However, the sheer wrongness of some of the imagery in this book compelled me to give it a try. Seeing fish on legs invading an island community...there was just something primally disturbing about this idea, and given that I have an interest in horror comics in general, this was a natural book with which to break my manga drought.

Of course, this now has me interested in Ito's other horror work, such as Uzumaki. You (and I as well) can learn more about Ito here.

Plus, now that I've broken down that barrier, I find myself looking at more manga, such as Sgt. Frog, which is about as far away from Gyo as you can get. Don't ask me to explain.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:39 | |

Oh dear, they've made a sequel to The Mask...complete with a CGI baby. I only found out about it as I was listening to a call-in movie show on the radio (the things you'll do for entertainment when you're sick), and someone called in to complain that Jim Carrey wasn't going to be in this new Mask movie. (It's starring Jamie Kennedy.)

Sadly, we haven't seen much of the Mask in the medium in which he/it first appeared...the last Mask comic that I remember was the Joker/Mask series from '00. The Mask comics were fairly entertaining, the best being the initial two mini-series (the original from '91, and The Mask Returns from '92). Also notable was an odd mini-series starring the Mask's mute nemesis Walter, Mask/Marshal Law, and the Lobo/Mask mini gets a guilty laugh out of me on the one page where Lobo finally puts on the Mask.

The oddest permutation of the Mask had to be Rick Geary's children's books!

And if you ever wanted to know who would win in a fight between the Mask and, oh, say, Freakazoid -- take a look at the discussion here.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:13 | |

I'm very sick today, and only posting to break the monotony of being flat on my back in bed, so all you get is some quick linkage to here, where pal Ian points out Marvel's latest bad idea.

posted by Mikester  @ 17:06 | |

Many years ago, Eclipse Comics released a regular-sized issue of mini-comics mainstay The Amazing Cynicalman by Matt Feazell. In the text pages of this comic, Feazell made readers an offer (no longer good, I am guessing) to send a free mini-comic to anyone who sent in their own drawing of the title stick-figure character, along with an SASE.

Well, I took him up on that offer, sending in my illustration of "The Amazing Cynicalman in 3-D" (yes, in red and blue ink) along with my SASE. Some time later, I came back from my first day of college to find two envelopes from Mr. Feazell! As it turns out, the SASE I used was too small, so Feazell used another envelope to send me my mini-comic. The envelope I did send he filled with photocopies of sketchbook material and a personal letter (mostly just to explain why he had to send another envelope!). Well, that was very cool, I thought, and even though I had been a fan before, I was even more of a fan now...and even 16 years later(!), he's still one of my favorites.

Anyway, I found out just recently that he has a new book out, and I placed an order for it late Sunday evening. Today, Friday, I have it in my hands. Now that's some fast shipping, especially for Christmastime! And it's even signed, with a Cynicalman pencil sketch.

He's still a cool guy, and I recommend that everyone visit his website and buy his stuff.

Two true stories:

1. When I first joined AOL (way back in the dark ages) I almost used "cynicalman" as my username...good thing I didn't, because Feazell is using it now!

2. The very first issue of Scott McCloud's Zot! I bought was the mini-comic Zot! in Dimension 10 1/2 drawn by Feazell in the stick-man style. That got me to read the regular Zot! comics and become a McCloud fan...so I have Feazell to thank for that as well.

posted by Mikester  @ 19:51 | |

illustration by Mike Carlin

posted by Mikester  @ 02:36 | |

Don't end your Hulk comic (that's based on a video game) with a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson.

I mean, honestly:

posted by Mikester  @ 19:20 | |

No matter what you think of Cerebus, its 300-issue run is certainly an achievement...though creator Dave Sim encouraged some small amount of consternation with his attitudes on gender relations (among other things), it's hard to ignore his commitment to telling the life of his lead character for the last quarter of a century. Sim gives his goodbyes to his life's project here. (His regards to Jeff Smith did strike me as a little odd...wasn't Dave challenging Jeff to a fight at one point?)

Other good Cerebus links and info can be found at the Cerebus Fangirl site...one of my favorites is this one, providing early fan-produced radio show adaptations of the first six issues.

posted by Mikester  @ 22:30 | |

Former Swamp Thing artist and Taboo mastermind Steve Bissette moderates his own message board, and unlike most comic creator boards, it's readable, enjoyable, and informative. Most of the discussion centers around Bissette's passion for horror movies, but comics do get brought up once in a while as well.

posted by Mikester  @ 22:30 | |

I've been seeing references to it on various comic sites, but it took an e-mail from pal John to finally get me to take a look at it.

Doomworld...featuring artwork by Tom "Gallows" Grindberg. It is quite possibly the most brain-damaging comic you'll ever read.

The first word balloon on page two is almost like poetry.

posted by Mikester  @ 13:16 | |

Supertalk: The Movie - superheroes (and their loved ones) call in to radio psychologist "Dr. Flora" for help with their special problems. Downloadable in Window Media Format and Quicktime here.

(thanks to JP)

posted by Mikester  @ 13:07 | |

This is a great site for scans of old crime comics...I hadn't visited in a while, so imagine my surprise when I finally went to the site again and found a notice that all the comics on this site are going up on eBay!

Here's another gallery, not quite as polished -- it's a tribute to the Silver Surfer, Green Lantern, and the Green Goblin! Aside from having colors in their names, I'm not sure what they all have in common, and this page hasn't been updated in a couple years (having achieved perfection on August 13, 2001), but there are some neat things to be found in the nooks and crannies. (Warning...Tripod pop-ups on every page.)

Marie's Cows is a site collecting all the cow drawings Marie Javins gathered during her Marvel Comics editing career.

However, my favorite comics gallery site is this one...comic artists drawing characters on cliffs. Or drawing things in jars. The whole darn site is fantastic.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:06 | |

Teen Boat!

I think it was pal Reid who originally brought this to my attention. Funny stuff.

posted by Mikester  @ 19:57 | |

My pal John is my hero.

posted by Mikester  @ 19:57 | |

Someone on the John Byrne Message Board replied to a post linking to Time Magazine's best comics article by saying "I've never heard of any of these."

Either this person shops at the worst comic shop in the world, or this person just hasn't been paying attention to comics or the comics industry at all. How did someone with internet access somehow miss any references to the excellent Blankets over the past year? I swear every comics website on the planet mentioned it at least once. And, for Pete's sake, even the most myopic superhero fans know about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! And to not know about Palomar!?

I just don't get it. It's like the exact opposite of those comic fans who try to prove how hoity-toity they are by claiming they pay absolutely no attention to superhero comics. "What is this, how you say, 'Super-Man' you speak of?" Sigh.

posted by Mikester  @ 19:33 | |

Yeah, I know, Atari Force, how good could it be, right? Well, actually, it's darn good comic book science fiction, with light writing by Law & Order writer and Man-Thing creator Gerry Conway and spectacular art by the criminally-underused Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez...later issues were nearly as good, with writing by Nexus creator Mike Baron and art by Eduardo Barreto. Yes, they follow up on characters and situations from the comics that came prepackaged with Atari 2600 game cartridges. Plenty of strange aliens, swashbuckling Star Wars style space action, great lettering from Bob Lappan...it's a lot of fun, and probably the best comic Conway ever wrote. (Baron's best comic is still Nexus, but he did a good job here, too.)

Alas, in 1985 it all came to an end, after only 20 issues (and a later special with some inventory stories). This site, which has been online for about 8(!) years, covers this comic in excruciating detail.

(Look, it was either this or a discussion of "comic book ages" (you know, Golden Age, Silver Age, etc.). Consider yourself lucky.)

posted by Mikester  @ 21:41 | |

Comics legend Julie "Be Original" Schwartz is in the hospital with pneumonia. Everyone else seems to be pointing to Harlan Ellison's message board for updates (and reminiscing), so I'll do the same just to avoid confusion. Hopefully his health will improve...Mark Evanier has a few words about people who have presumed the worst about Mr. Schwartz's mortality in the past. (His permalinks don't seem to be working right at the moment, due to having to code it all by hand, but it's the Dec. 16th entry.)

A three-issue Lex Luthor story from the mid-80s was interrupted by a surprise 70th birthday tribute issue prepared for then Supes-editor Schwartz by the creative staff.

posted by Mikester  @ 22:57 | |

Ah, a good day for comics. You've got your Prison Funnies, your Scurvy Dogs, your Zippy Annual 2003, your Plastic Man Annual, your Batman Adventures, your Hate Annual #4, your New X-Men #150, your Superfolks...lots of good reading.

Speaking of the Plastic Man Annual...is Plastic Man's origin story one of the most reprinted Golden Age stories or what? I think I must have it in a half-dozen publications (including The Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics). I shouldn't complain, as I know it'll be new to a lot of people, but part of me still wishes they would have used those pages for another story. And reprinting a text story? Nobody read these things in the comics back then, no one's gonna read it now! And the 60s Plastic Man story...Gil Kane art is always a treat. Funny Gil Kane art is even better! Okay, nobody liked the 60s Plastic Man, but I have some fondness for it. Don't ask me to explain.

Plus, if I can't have Jack Cole on the current iteration of Plastic Man...I'll accept Kyle Baker.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:34 | |

...(located here):

• We've gone from not having any DC Direct Batman figures to having too many.
  
• As The World's Biggest Swamp Thing Fan (TM), I am glad to see a new Swamp Thing series on the schedule.
  
• So that's how they're going to handle the trade-paperbacking of Warren Ellis' mini-series...put 'em two in a volume. Good idea. (Mek and Reload, if you're wondering.)
  
• The continuing shoehorning of Smallville-esque continuity into the Superman comics continues, via Birthright, it appears.
  
• Of course, now that I've finally finished my run of the original Doom Patrol, DC is well on its way to reprinting them all in the Archives format. Of course, I think I paid about as much for all the back issues as you'd have to pay for the two Archives that reprint issues 80 to 97. Maybe I exaggerate slightly...but not much.
  
• John Byrne drawing Hawkman? What the...?
  
• Ah, Batman in the 40s trade paperback, how I love you.
  
• I wonder how many copies of the Smallville comic book series are ending up in the hands of non-comic-fan Smallville fans?
  
• As noted by my friend Dorian, one of the great villains returns in JSA. (Linkage totally stolen from him.) This makes me really, really happy for very stupid reasons, mostly involving my younger self's obsession with Roy Thomas' Golden Age obsession.
  

posted by Mikester  @ 22:14 | |

Superfolks should be out this week in your finer comic shops, in a new edition from About Comics. It's an interesting read...varies widely in tone from cartoonish parody to social satire, but it's compelling stuff for those of us who have been reading comics for a while, and can see where its influence has played out in the industry.

posted by Mikester  @ 09:59 | |

I came across this months-old discussion of aborted DC Comics projects that I found interesting...and one of the items discussed, the New Teen Titans graphic novel Games by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, is, after all these years, back in production. If only the same would happen to, say, Joe Kubert's Redeemer, but how likely is that, at this point.

Further discussion of Alan Moore's proposed DC crossover series (and alleged Kingdom Come inspiration) Twilight can be found here. And here's a brief mention of Rick Veitch's proposed King Hell DC crossover series - in Spanish.

Then there are those series that got cut off midstream...like Mike Baron and Barry Crain's Sonic Distruptors (only other site with anything of significance is here - where he also mentions that he can't find any sites on the series) - I seem to have a very vague memory of a blurb in an Amazing Heroes news column suggesting that the series would be concluded in a graphic novel by Baron and Mike Mignola. Which, of course, didn't happen.

Andy Helfer and Kyle Baker's Shadow series is another famous example of runs cut short...probably because the owners of the Shadow had heart attacks when they saw what was done to him - take a look at the last cover for the best example. I thought it was a hoot, myself. And, once again, my aforementioned vague memory seems to tell me that a wrap-up graphic novel by Helfer and Baker was announced as well...my guess is that it never got past the "no way are you going to be allowed to do that!" stage. Oh, well.

(And this has nothing to do with comics, really...but I found this page during my Google searches, and goodness, how old is that Quicktime logo?)

posted by Mikester  @ 21:42 | |

What's the stupidest way they could bring back Hal?

First (and best) response: "Carol Ferris gets pregnant, baby Hal crawls out (complete with costume and/or facemask)."

("Have him become the new Spectre" is a very close second.)

Kudos to my friend Corey for bringing this important topic to my attention.

posted by Mikester  @ 23:40 | |

Andy just pointed out on his excellent site that Sony Pictures is promoting Spider-Man 2 by offering Blogger and Livejournal templates and icons.

Well, give them credit for trying something different, anyway.

(Where's my Santa Sangre template?)

posted by Mikester  @ 00:06 | |

I was looking for information online about the sadly-incompleted Fantagraphics mini-series Eye of Mongombo (the only thing I found of significance, beyond sale listings, was a mention halfway down the page in an outdated comic FAQ), and I found this page listing comic book characters that physically transform into either animals or the opposite sex. It's just part of a larger site that catalogs such examples of shapeshifting in books, movies, paintings, etc. Keep in mind the elaborate list of notations as you peruse the entries.

God bless the internet.

posted by Mikester  @ 23:59 | |

Chester Brown, who brought us the alternately nightmarish/dreamlike comic book Yummy Fur (which gave us the immortal piece of dialogue "I'm not a penis! I'm the President of the United States!"), and the unfortunately truncated Underwater (not to mention the Bible adaptation back-ups in both series), recently had a hardcover collection of his Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography released by Drawn & Quarterly. It is honestly one of the best looking hardcovers I've ever seen.

In searching for links, I found a missing-the-point review of Yummy Fur collection The Playboy (the review from May 28, 2001), and some three-year-old news about a Yummy Fur movie. Wha huh? There's a Yummy Fur band, too.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:51 | |

My pal Dorian, after looking at the preview copy of next week's New X-Men #150: "Boy, the hardcore X-Men fans are going to hate this issue."

Me: "Why, does something fun and interesting happen?"

Dorian: "Yup."

posted by Mikester  @ 21:15 | |

All the other comic weblogs are doing it...so here's one of my favorite superhero comic book covers:



Okay, so it's not within the last 10 years...don't bring me down with your "rules," old man.

Honestly, though...Doane's choice is very nice...it's hard to argue with Seth, who is a master of layout and design. You can't go too wrong with Brian Bolland, either.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:36 | |

My friend Corey and I were talking about comics today. Specifically, we were talking about Steve Englehart's run on Green Lantern (and the series it turned into, The Green Lantern Corps) from the late-80...and we were just laughing and laughing. We both really loved these comics...not because they were any good, but because they were just equal parts silly, over-the-top, and outright insane. Englehart brought us a dead Green Lantern kept alive by his ring, a funny-animal GL (Ch'p), Kilowog hanging out with Gorbachev, Arisia aging herself with her ring to pursue a relationship with Hal Jordan, bizarre sexual tension between Hector Hammond and Star Sapphire, of all people...all kinds of craziness was going on in this comic. And there was a real sense of menace (well, B-movie level menace) from the villains, too...old GL nemesis Sinestro seemed more dangerous than ever, and before he became a buffoon (and way before he became some kind of shape changing alien warrior...wha huh?), Guy Gardner was a fairly threatening villain as well.

Anyway, these GLs were a hoot. Just plain ol' stupid fun comic books. You look at some of the fans in the online message forums, and you'd think there's no room for a comic that makes you laugh anymore. They're all so serious, and and so concerned with the characters' "dignity." Sigh. I'll tell you what...Englehart's GL was a damn sight more entertaining than that whole Jim Lee/Batman/Hush thing.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:19 | |

I honestly didn't intend this to turn into yet another comics weblog, but, well, sometimes things just happen. So, to make up for it, here's a link to a site that, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with comics whatsoever.

posted by Mikester  @ 21:39 | |

When I was a kid, my dad came back from a business trip in Puerto Rico with a book he had bought there to give to me. It was called Hear The Sound of My Feet Walking..Drown The Sound of My Voice Talking. It was a collection of Odd Bodkins cartoons by underground cartoonist Dan O'Neill. Why he found that book in Puerto Rico, and why he decided this was the sort of thing to give me, I have no idea (beyond my interest in all things comical, even then). But, I'm glad he did, and Odd Bodkins is still one of my favorite comic strips. Here is the official site.

posted by Mikester  @ 20:55 | |

Licensable Bear is a cute comic written by Nat Gertler, with a fun site to go with it.

Particularly amusing is the "Products They Should Have Licensed Me For" page.

posted by Mikester  @ 19:08 | |

Everything you ever wanted to know about Superboy, here and here.

And, in my quest to find an image of Superboy's semi-nemesis Insect Queen for you to enjoy, I found Insect Queen fan fiction! Oh blessed Internet, what joys you bring me.

For one of the few currently-published goofy* comics, please visit this site. Arrrr!

Purposefully goofy, that is.

posted by Mikester  @ 19:13 | |

...almost all of them tend to have a bad signal-to-noise ratio, but it's this fella who digs out the real gems. He exposes himself to dangerous levels of fandom for our entertainment, and for that we owe him our thanks.

It's not just comic boards...take a look at any movie review on Mr. Cranky, and the attached message boards are filled with asinine nonsense. Here's a good example. And don't even get me started on this site.

posted by Mikester  @ 23:36 | |

Some people really don't like Grant Morrison's X-Men. Some people also have absolutely no sense of humor, apparently.

Too often in the past, reading the X-Men was like reading someone else's mail...you understand the words, certainly, but darned if you know what's going on. Morrison stripped the comic down to its basics, and kept the stories moving with snappy dialogue, fast action, and a healthy dose of silliness (and if there's one thing the hardcore X-fans don't like, it's silliness). He even took generic characters like Bishop and the White Queen and made them interesting, for once. Makes one wonder what he could have done with a character like Gambit...but perhaps some challenges are too great.

Of course, my interest in the X-Men will most certainly go away with Morrison's departure, but that's okay. Pretty much all the X-Men adventure you'll ever need to read is contained in the issues he wrote.

posted by Mikester  @ 23:17 | |

I'm still fooling around with settings. Don't mind me.

Meanwhile, take look at this Wizard of Id strip and see if you can figure out what this situation and these characters have to do with The Wizard of Id. I haven't read the strip in a while...did I miss something?

posted by Mikester  @ 20:27 | |