Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Reading Room: INTERPLANETARY POLICE "Space Trap" Part 1

Tanya, the Space Siren has another cunning plan...
...and only Bruce Warren (and his little brother Terry) can stop her nefarious scheme in this tale from Buster Brown Comic Book #29 (1952)!
 What do they find?
(We know, but we ain't talking!)
You'll have to be here tomorrow to discover the startling secret!

The eagle-eyed among you will notice a redesign of the police uniforms and spacecraft from the previous story.
Reed Crandall, who finished the pencils over Ray Bailey's layouts, revamped them in a more "Flash Gordon" style rather than the utilitarian "Space Cadet" look they initially had.
Crandall took over full penciling as of the next issue.
Written by Hobart Donovan.
Penciled by Ray Bailey and Reed Crandall
Inked by Ray Willner.

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Monday, January 16, 2012

Martin Luther King, Jr--the Comic Book

On the day we honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr, the gang at Atomic Kommie Comics™ thought it only appropriate to present this item, the first comic book dramatizing his historic efforts.
From the website's intro to the comic...
Most sane thinkers consider MLK to be an important and historic larger-than-life icon, but how did that happen?
Especially given the marginalized press coverage of blacks in the 50s, how was his message galvanized among southern minorities and then spread as a single statement beyond the black community -- and how was it focused so specifically to such seemingly ignorable or boring local incidents as one black woman's refusal to give up a bus seat and a following small-town bus boycott, as well as the concept of Passive Resistance?
Without any need for hyperbole, this comic book is one of the reasons.


Produced by the Fellowship of the Reconciliation and sent very surreptitiously throughout the South (it was dangerous for many to own a copy), then translated, re-drawn, and distributed once again throughout the entire SOUTHERN CONTINENT through Mexico, into Central and then South America, this comic tells the story that established the myth of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks at the time that it mattered, mere months after news events occurred.
Intended for adults, but shown in comic book format for the largest possible distribution and audience and instruction.
It was also produced as a comic because more adult seeming publications and newspapers were often destroyed by white businessmen and other violent types bent on continuing segregation's grip on the South.
But that does not mean people found distributing copies of this comic were not given their fair share of beatings and harassment, nor does it mean thousands of copies were not often destroyed.
Why? This comic is and was dangerously honest.
Featuring the Klan (lynching, bombs, burning crosses), Jim Crow laws, and the entire concept of Nonviolent Protest.
This pamphlet offered advice and instructions on how to use passive resistance and massive non-violent resistance against segregation, just as these ideas were fresh --and it also established a clear connection of MLK to Gandhi, a public connection that continues on to today.


A copy of this comic is held in the Smithsonian and many Civil Rights leaders recognize this as one of the most important AND PERSUASIVE items of the 50s in establishing or explaining their cause to the world, as well as giving many black youths the courage and direction to hold their own political protests.
Many notable sit-ins and demonstrations link to this comic book getting into the right hands - and it did get around, literally devoured by black college students at the time.
We're DELIGHTED to offer you not just the American version of this comic but also the SPANISH edition, of which maybe two or three copies are known to exist.
After extensive effort and search, we were able to find a copy in Uruguay.
Not joking. Completely redrawn and translated, click back and forth to compare art, some of the differences between the two are great.


Ever wonder how much influence and power a small press or self-produced item can have?
This is one of the best examples you'll ever see.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Design of the Week--Captain Steve Savage

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...During the Korean War, Captain Steve Savage patrolled the skies protecting us from comic book Communists.
Now he's back to save us from the new threat of Kim Jong-un!
Check out his limited-time, limited-edition collectibles HERE!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Show the lady you love that she's a HEROINE on Valentine's Day!


If you'd like to show your woman that you appreciate her strength as well as her beauty, why not give her a Valentine's Day gift that symbolizes exactly that?
We offer dozens of designs showing powerful women doing what they do best!
Whether it's '70s psychedelic or '40s retro, we have a heroine to suit your needs!
There's a kool variety of products ranging from his-and-her garb to mugs and mousepads to messenger and tote bags to blank sketchbooks!
Check out Heroines™!
Your lady (and you) will be glad you did!

Friday, January 13, 2012

James Bond 007 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray Set or "AGAIN? NEVER!"

WTF?
I got the complete VHS set in the early 1990s (up to GoldenEye), two different sets of DVDs (the set up to World is Not Enough, and the 2-disc per title Ultimate Special Edition set up to Die Another Day) and the three-disc Casino Royale release!
And the VHS and two different 1967 Casino Royales and Never Say Never Agains!
Now you want more money from me?

So, where's George Lazenby (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)?
Yeah, the movie is in the box set, but where is he in the trailer?
Even Timothy Dalton gets a couple of shots!
And, the box set is missing the two previous versions of Casino Royale (1953 tv production with Barry Nelson & 1967 feature film with everybody), as well as Sean Connery's Never Say Never Again!
Sorry, I'll not buy this set until it hits the "used" racks.
Maybe, just maybe, if you had included new commentary tracks with Sean, Roger, Timothy, Pierce, and of course, George...