Saturday, April 23, 2016

Shakespeare: the Comic Books (err, I mean Graphic Novels!)

If you're both a graphic novel and Shakespeare fan (or know someone who is)...
If you're a home stager looking for an interesting, kitchy, yet inexpensive, display piece for a library or den...
If you know a budding thespian (or are one)...
Or, if you feel the need to inspire a youngster who just isn't into classic literature, yet...
Why not try one of these three kool posters based on the first comics adaptations of the Bard of Avon by Famous Authors Illustrated!
The comics these images were derived from were produced in the 1940s-50s by a company competing with Classics Illustrated for the educational comics market!
They were so successful, that Gilberton Publishing, the owners of Classics Illustrated, bought out the company to eliminate competition!
Since these books are so hard to find today, one can assume that, when Classics issued their versions of these stories, they "suggested" that libraries and schools destroy the Famous Authors editions (to avoid confusing the kids, of course).

At any rate, these posters, available in several sizes up to 16" x 24" are the perfect size for bedroom, dorm room, or den, and come in a variety of paper types, from a matte finish poster stock to canvas!

Ods Bodkins!
Verily and forsooth!
If thou dost not acquire yon wall decor, than what canst we say but..."Lord, what fools these mortals be?"

Friday, April 22, 2016

Prince (1958-2016) RIP

My favorite Prince music...

(Hope it stays up.
Warner Bros seems particularly obsessed with keeping this off the 'Net)

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Reading Room SPACE PATROL COMICS "Push Button Tyrant"

Ziff-Davis' Space Patrol comic featured stories based on the TV series...
...and unrelated one-shot tales, like this never-reprinted "Cold War of the Future" story from #1 (1952).
Boy, they were obsessed in the 1950s that the Commies would win the Cold War!
The writer and artist are officially unknown, but I see a great deal of Carmine Infantino's penciling style in a number of panels.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Reading Room EPIC ILLUSTRATED "Relic"

Is this never-reprinted tale from the 1980s...
...a subtle commentary by the "old guard" about the "young bucks" who were taking over the comics industry?
When this Archie Goodwin-scripted/Al Williamson-rendered story appeared in Marvel's Epic Illustrated #27 (1984), the comics industry was going through an upheaval.
Due to the introduction in the late 1970s of comic book stores and the Direct Market (which enabled publishers to "print to order"), numerous small publishers were popping up to compete with the major companies.
But, among the casualties in the changing marketplace were the "old pros", long-time creatives who were finding less and less work as the majors hired youngsters who were willing to work on their characters for lower rates.
The older writers and artists did find work, but mostly for upstarts, and usually at lower rates.
Some kept going by taking commissions from fans for new pieces.
Others moved on to advertising or newspaper syndicate work.
It's a sad turn of events that only started reversing itself after 2000.
BTW, note the story is dedicated to Williamson's fellow Fleagle Gang member Roy Krenkel who passed away around the time this tale was being created.
Krenkel was especially expert at rendering lush overgrown jungles and fantastical lost cities, so Al's dedicating this work to him was most appropriate.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Reading Room TIME WARP "Righteous Ones"

As rumbles of nuclear war grow ever louder...
...we thought we'd take a look at a possible result of such a frightening future!
Oops!
Cue Twilight Zone theme...
Written by DC writer/editor George Kashdan (who co-created Tommy Tomorrow) and illustrated by the multi-talented Dick Giordano, this never-reprinted tale from DC's Time Warp #1 (1979) reads like it was scripted a decade earlier in the late 1960s, especially in the teen-agers' dialogue ("Like it was chain-reacted into doomsville!")!

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Reading Room BASEBALL COMICS "Rube Rooky Heads Down the Home Stretch"

...under coach Pop Flye's guidance, Rube has developed into a top-notch pitcher.
But even a first-rate hurler needs a great team behind him!
Fortunately, the formerly-mediocre Badgers are inspired by the pitching prodigy and...
Regrettably, there was no "next issue" of Baseball Comics, so no World Series appearance for Rube Rooky.
But we still have this one-shot wonder by writer/penciler Will Eisner and inker Tex Blaisdell to remember...