Saturday, August 30, 2014

Doctor Who Deja Vu!

We're into the 2nd week of the newest Doctor Who's run, and whom do we already see?
Yep, the Daleks!
Used to be we'd have to wait at least a couple of months before they turned up, but now it's "Here's The Doctor and, of course, the Daleks!"
Here's a comic book adaptation of their first movie appearance...from almost 50 years ago!
The more thing change...

Friday, August 29, 2014

Labor Day Sale: All 2015 12-Month Calendars are NOW 25% Off!

From now to Midnight (ET) on September 2nd, 2014, all calendars are 25% off!
Plus, they now have customizable"start dates", so you can give them as birthday presents with the recepient's September 2014 (or later) birthday month as the first month on the calendar, then running 12 months to their birthday in 2015!
(Can't do that with a store-bought calendar!)
NOT available in stores, only on-line! Order now...before time runs out! ;-)

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Happy Birthday, Jack (King) Kirby (August 28, 1917-February 6, 1994)

"It is said that when Man reaches The Edge of the Universe, he'll find 'Jack Kirby' signed in the lower right-hand corner."

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Why was Jack Kirby "The King"?

Because he didn't whine, he didn't make excuses, he "did it" better than anyone else on a frighteningly-regular basis!
(Look! "Kirby Quotes"!)
In a Bleeding Cool column, illustrator Kaare Andrews sez...
Let me admit that I’m not the fastest artist in the world.
It can take a long time to draw a page.
In the olden days, you had inkers basically ‘finishing breakdowns’ over Jack Kirby.
"Breakdowns" like this, which was typical of Kirby's "2-4 page a day" period (and he was writing the book as well)...?
From Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™
That’s how he could push through 4-6 pages in a day.
Kirby’s art was bold.
It was beautiful. 
It was awesome. 
But I’m not sure he would have as much success in today’s climate.
Which explains why Jack Kirby's art is used on so much of Marvel's licensed product output, and why sales of reprints of Kirby's work equal or exceed a large number of Marvel's new-material titles!
The truth is that the level of detail demanded on a page has risen dramatically.
Comics aren’t 10 cent disposable newsprints anymore.
They are a legitimate art form.
They always were a "legitimate" art form.
Ask any European or Asian art aficionado.
Paper stock is slick, coloring is high tech, and you can now print as many tones, in as many shades, with as much detail as you can imagine.
It’s expected from the fans.
Which "fans"?
Not me!
Must be the same "fans" who aren't buying the current output of Marvel and DC at even the same sales levels as five years ago, and not like 15 years ago, when I was working on-staff, and sales at 50,000 or below were a reason for cancellation, not celebration!

One other point, Andrews is an illustrator, not a comic book artist.
He's a decent cover artist, but his interior work is average at best, mediocre at worst.
Curiously, it also appears to be uncollectable or unwanted.
Every gallery I see online features his heavily-photo-referenced covers or pin-ups, not his panel pages!
Want proof?
Google "Kaare Andrews", then Google "Jack Kirby".
How many interior pages or panels do you see in each case?
That's why we'll still be celebrating Kirby decades from now when Karre is long forgotten...

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

FANTASTIC WORLDS & LOST WORLDS Cover Gallery

They ran for a combined total of only five issues...
Art by Alex Toth
...but Standard's short-lived sci-fi anthologies Fantastic Worlds and Lost Worlds had some first-rate talent both on the covers and inside them!
Art by John Celardo
Plus, all five covers had something in common quite unique in publishing...
...the covers had nothing to do with any of the interior stories!
Art by Alex Toth & Mike Peppe
Despite the captions, which did mention titles from stories that ran in the books...
Art by Mike Sekowsky & John Celardo
...the art didn't depict anything even close to what was in the tales!
But they sure look kool, don't they?

Monday, August 25, 2014

Reading Room ADVENTURES OF THE DOVER BOYS Conclusion "Treasure Trove"

Don't wait!
Here it is!
The Big Finale!
(One codicil: may be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to the era [1950].)
Apparently very few people sent postcards because the Dover Boys have never been reprinted and never reappeared anywhere else.
And I do mean NEVER!
In 2011, Archie and Friends #137-138 and #150 featured a storyline involving almost all the "forgotten" characters from MLJ/Archie's long history from Suzie to Sam Hill to Super Duck crossing dimensions to Riverdale to encounter Archie and the gang...except the Dover Boys!
Sad, ain't it?

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Reading Room ADVENTURES OF THE DOVER BOYS Chapter Five "Power of the Evil Eye"

Before I present the synopsis, note that the material that follows may be NSFW due to politically-incorrect racial stereotypes common to fiction of the era (1950).
No need to hold your breath, just dive right in...
Suzie was a combination of the teen-age antics of Archie's crew and the bubble-headed blonde stereotype common to movies/tv/radio shows of the era.
The character first appeared in 1942, the same year as Archie, and kept going until 1954, ending her own book with #100.
Don't miss it!