Christmas at Ground Zero---It's Earlier than You Think!

At this time of year, Christmas carols are in continuous rotation on radio stations and in the Atomic Kommie Comics™ office.

(Remember when this didn't happen until after Thanksgiving?)

One of our favorites is Christmas at Ground Zero by "Weird" Al Yankovic.

(You were expecting maybe Adeste Fidelis?)

Which brings us to, perhaps, the most unusual theme for potential Christmas presents (and, you gotta admit, we've had some real weirdies!)...atomic Armageddon!

BTW, our apologies...the brand-new link directly from YouTube does a weird re-routing, so you have to click on the video embed to go directly to YouTube instead of being able to watch it on the blog!

Within our sci-fi-oriented The Future WAS Fantastic!™ section is the Atomic War line of kool collectibles with classic comic book covers from the fear-filled '50s, featuring the nuclear destruction of New York City (see above), Washington DC, and Moscow on black hoodies, sweats, and tees, as well as mugs and other tchochkies!
So for all you survivalists out there, while you duck n' cover under the Christmas tree, prepare for the irradiated end stylishly with our radiation-proof (not really!) garb and goodies!

Design of the Week Redux ATOMIC WAR!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!

...unless it sells really well, like this one has.

Then we keep it for one more week!

This week...Duck n' cover and prepare for the inevitable end in style with Atomic Kommie Comics™ radiation-proof (well, not really!)with this garb and collectibles from our vintage Atomic War collection featuring New York City (including the iconic Empire State Building) going up in a mushroom cloud!
In addition, you can read a collection of stories from the 1950s comics Atomic War! and World War III at our "brother" RetroBlog, War: Past, Present and Future™!

Design of the Week ATOMIC WAR!

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!

This week...Duck n' cover and prepare for the inevitable end in style with Atomic Kommie Comics™ radiation-proof (well, not really!)with this garb and collectibles from our vintage Atomic War collection featuring New York City (including the iconic Empire State Building) going up in a mushroom cloud!
In addition, you can read a collection of stories from the 1950s comics Atomic War! and World War III at our "brother" RetroBlog, War: Past, Present and Future™!

Friday Fun BIG APPLE COMIX "Can You Spot the New York Air Breather?" & "Backward"

We've reached the final two pages from the legendary Big Apple Comix!

Written and illustrated by underground cartoonist Margery Peters (aka Petchesky), known for her work on Wet Satin and Wimmen's Comix!

To cap it all off, Fabulous Flo herself writes and draws the epilogue...

Sadly, Flo passed from this mortal coil a few weeks ago.

But her contributions to our shared culture will live on forever...

Be here next Friday as we introduce a new ongoing feature!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

the HTF Comic Classic...

Big Apple Comix

Put the "X" Back in Xmas!

Believing that Christmas gifts can have a somewhat risque side, here's a kool, retro, 1950s comic cover image from our somewhat-naughty Seduction of the Innocent™ section.
Quick side note: Seduction of the Innocent was a book written in the 1950s by Dr. Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist who postulated that, because juvenile delinquents read comic books, comics caused juvenile delinquency! (Psychiatrists today claim the same thing about video games!)
So our collection's title is tongue-in-cheek and somewhat snarky, not prurient!
As we put it..."Proudly show the stuff your grandparents didn't want your parents to see!"
This particular image is a cutting commentary on the belief that New York City is a den of sin, a modern Sodom (if not Gomorrah), and that only MidWestern small-town values are the RIGHT values!
It's available, along with eleven other comics covers and almost TWO DOZEN naughty movie posters, on a variety of items including mugs, messenger bags, t-shirts, tops, and other goodies, not to mention a couple of kool 2017 12-month calendars; Seduction of the Innocent and Good Girls & Bad Grrrls!
So, let's put the "X" back in Xmas! ;-)
It's good to be bad at Christmastime!

Best of Reading Room BIG APPLE COMIX "Token" by Herb Trimpe

The Abraham Lincoln story scheduled for today can be found HERE.
In the early 1970s, there were a lot of underground / alternative comics...

...but this HTF 1975 one-shot was one of the koolest, if only for it's awesome lineup of big-name New York-based comics talent including:

Wally Wood (who did the amazing cover above as well as a NSFW spoof of his classic "My World" strip, plus he wrote a second strip and inked a third.)!

Al Williamson, who illustrated a NSFW strip written by Wood, illustrating a Roy Thomas-lookalike nerd thrust into a world of barbarians, nude princesses, and monsters, becoming a loincloth-wearing, sword-wielding hero!

Plus: Neal Adams, Larry Hama, Ralph Reese, Paul Kirshner, Archie Goodwin, Marie Severin, Mike Ploog, Alan Weiss, Stu Schwarzberg, Linda Fite, and Herb Trimpe.

Edited and published by Flo Steinberg (known as "Fabulous Flo" when she was Stan Lee's Gal Friday during the Silver Age), the comic was sold primarily in "head shops" and sleazy bookstores since the Direct Market was in it's infancy and there were maybe two dozen comic book shops in the entire country!

The comic was a tribute to New York City, the city we love, the city we hate, the city we love to hate and hate to love.
(Yeah, I was born and raised in NYC...Brooklyn, to be exact!)

There's lots of venting of cynicism and irritation, like the cover with commuters just standing there with an "It's always something!" attitude instead of fleeing in terror as most populaces do at the sight of giant monsters tearing up the skyline.

And then there's the gentle, poetic, side as shown by the highly-underrated Herb Trimpe's visual treat...

BTW, the object in question is a subway token.
Its' use was discontinued over a decade ago in favor of "smart cards", so there are probably readers of this blog who have never used, or even seen them.

Penciler/inker (and occasional writer) Herb Trimpe, who fell into disfavor with Marvel in the 1990s, despite trying to adapt by becoming a Rob Liefield clone, was as much a part of their Silver and Bronze Age success as the Buscema brothers, Don Heck, John Romita Sr, Dick Ayers, Frank Giacoia, Joe Sinnott, or any of the other hardworking craftsmen of the era.
He passed away a couple of days ago...another of the links to the Silver and Bronze Ages (and, according to all accounts, a heck of a nice guy) lost to eternity.

It's GOOD to be BAD at Christimastime!

Well, the Christmas shopping season is more-or-less underway (Remember when it didn't begin until after Thanksgiving?), so we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ are going to offer you a daily guide to reasonably-priced pop culture collectibles that would make great gifts for the hard-to-please person in your life!
First off is a kool, retro, 1950s comic cover image from our Seducton of the Innocent™ section.
Quick side note: Seduction of the Innocent was a book written in the 1950s by Dr. Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist who postulated that, because juvenile delinquents read comic books, comics caused juvenile delinquency!
(Psychiatrists today claim the same thing about video games, in the '80s and '90s about horror movies, in the '60s and '70s about tv shows, etc.)
So our collection's title is tongue-in-cheek and somewhat snarky, not prurient!
As we put it..."Proudly show the stuff your grandparents didn't want your parents to see!"
This particular image is a cutting commentary on the belief that New York City is a den of sin, a modern Sodom (if not Gomorrah), and that only MidWestern small-town values are the RIGHT values!
It's available on a variety of items including mugs, messenger bags, t-shirts, tops, and other goodies along with eleven other comics covers and almost TWO DOZEN naughty movie posters!
So, let's put the "X" back in Xmas! ;-)
Shop now!
Avoid the Christmas rush!
It's good to be BAD at Christmastime!

9/11 Tenth Anniversary (2001-2011)

Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 11: Police officers observe a moment of silence during the tenth anniversary ceremonies of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center site, September 11, 2011 in New York City. New York City and the nation are commemorating the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan which resulted in the deaths of 2,753 people after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center.