Saturday, February 22, 2020

The LOST 1970s Black SuperHeroine!

After 1971's The ButterFly...
...and 1975's Storm...
...there was...
SUPERBITCH!
The Black superheroine who's x-rated adventures were so hot we can't run them here!
But we can re-present her tale at our "brother" RetroBlog...
Dare You Miss this "Lost" Piece of Black Americana?

Friday, February 21, 2020

Friday Fun ABBOTT & COSTELLO COMICS "Comics Convention!"

Like Roy Thomas, Jim Shooter, Marv Wolfman, and numerous others... 
...writer/artist Grass Green was part of the first generation of fanboys-turned-pros in the 1960s.
What few people knew was that Grass was one of the few Black fanboys!
While he occasionally worked in mainstream comics, as shown in this never-reprinted tale from Charlton's Abbott & Costello Comics #16 (1972), Green found his greatest professional success as the first Black underground comix writer/artist!
From the early 1970s to the late 1990s, Grass did quite a bit of work for Kitchen Sink, Renegade, Rip Off, and Fantagraphics' Eros imprint.
Sadly, Grass Green passed away from lung cancer in 2002.
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Thursday, February 20, 2020

Baker Reading Room STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES "Inexplicable"

Can you guess which cover-featured tale from this book was pencilled by Matt Baker?
Considering Baker was one of the foremost "good girl" illustrators of the 1940s-50s, it should be obvious, even with the terrible inking by Vince Colletta!
That is one smart bear!
This never-reprinted story from Charlton's Strange Suspense Stories #44 (1959), penciled by Baker and inked by Vince Colletta, was one of the last tales published before his death earlier in 1959 of a heart attack at the age of 38.
Note that Matt was so prolific that the inventory of stories he worked on though Colletta's studio for both Charlton and Atlas (later Marvel) wasn't exhausted until a year after his passing!
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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder NIOURK

Did you know the tale behind this cover...
...is about the most powerful African-American character in fiction?
True!
The novel, written by French author Stefan Wul (who also created/wrote Fantastic Planet) features...
...a Black teenager (named "Black Child" or "Dark Child" depending on the translation from the original French) wandering through the East Coast of post-apocalyptic America...
...until he reaches the ruins of New York City (the "Niourk" of the title), where he encounters both robots running the city and humans who avoided the apocalypse by traveling to Mars, whose tech evolves him into a superhuman calling himself "Alpha"!
There's a Twilight Zone-style ending that provides an ending that's both logical and emotionally-satisfying!
(Sorry, no spoilers!)
Though the prose novel has never been translated into English, there is a Dark Horse graphic novel adapted and illustrated in 2012 by noted French artist Olivier Vatine which has been Anglicized!
While the captions and dialogue, like most translations, are a tad stilted, the story is superb and the artwork is captivating!
Since it's currently in print, I'm only running excerpts.
But I recommend you pick it up, either through your local comic shop or on-line!
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Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Baker Reading Room UNUSUAL TALES "Blotting Threat"

Here's another rarely-seen sci-fi/fantasy tale by Black artest Matt Baker...
...the never-reprinted cover story from Charlton's Unusual Tales #19 (1959), about a disillusioned commercial artist involved with...
This story, penciled by Baker and inked by Vince Colletta, was one of the last tales published before his death later in 1959 of a heart attack at the age of 38.
Note that Matt was so prolific that the inventory of stories he worked on though Colletta's studio for both Charlton and Atlas (later Marvel) wasn't exhausted until a year after his passing!
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