More stupid money

So, a few months back I mentioned on Epicurus that I had spent entirely too much money to acquire a musical instrument that I cannot play and that in all likelihood I will never learn to play. This tale is about spending some more stupid money, but at least this time it was on something that I am certainly well equipped to appreciate. 

This is a DC Comics house ad by the great Ira Schnapp announcing the launch of the Justice League of America in their very own comic. After three successful outings in The Brave and The Bold (numbers 28-30) in early 1960, the seminal silver age super-group got its eponymous magazine later that year.

The B&B adventures of the JLA and the earliest issues of their own comic predate the start of my reading days; I was a 12-cent silver ager and missed the "all in color for dime" era by just few years. In fact, I read most of these early stories for the first time as reprints collected in "80 pg. Giant" specials.

Nonetheless, the Justice League itself, and this ad as well, loom large in my memory of those early, heady days of discovering comics. The sensibility of the great Schnapp lettering on display here, which abounded in DC house ads and logos for many years, forms the background fabric for my visual recreation of that era. Schnapp also designed the title of the Justice League of America comic itself, something I liked so much I had it reproduced for my arm tattoos.

The cool action-figure chess game in the ad caught my fancy and the Just Imagine! headline resonated with me and has stayed with me over the years - so much so that I have even used this ad as the conceit for a speech to honors students when I was a dean. (I must not have been the only one to love it - DC used the phrase as the name of a line of early 2000s comics in which Stan Lee re-envisioned DC heroes.)

In any case, this ad, and the Justice League, have always meant a lot to me. And a couple months ago, having a little extra folding green, I did something for the first time ever: I bought a comic as a collectible artifact and not as reading material.

Through the good offices of Heritage Online Auctions, I successfully obtained a copy of  Justice League of America #1. It's in pretty poor shape - you can see the corner wear, water spot, and creases even in the picture above - but frankly, that's the shape most of my comics were in most of the time. (As a friend of mine observed after having some comics slabbed, the highest-graded comics are those that were loved the least.) Because it was in such sorry condition, I got for just relatively stupid money - chump change, really - and not the $10,000 or more that a near-mint copy would go for. (That would be totally nuts.) But I am really happy for it, and it holds pride of place in the living room.

I don't think this purchase will send me down the road of acquisition - I like my life a lighter than that - but having this one item gives me a great deal of pleasure.

Peculiarities, the final part - and bonus content

The continuing (and ending) the (re)imaging of heroes from Madison Comics.
Part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here. Part 4 here.

Starting from the lower left, we have The Silver Shield - a Hollywood press agent who fights crime by creating solid energy artifacts, usually for defensive purposes only.

Racing in on the right is The Sow, the mighty boar-girl of Maryland, whose boar totem gives her strength and speed.

Up top is Turkey, the Modern Minuteman. This direct descendant of Crispus Attucks, taking inspiration from Ben Franklin's advocacy of the Turkey as a "true original Native of America [and] a Bird of Courage", uses his quantum musket to fight for freedom. (Man, that was a stretch.)

Thus endeth the re-imagining. Quick sketches, some I liked a lot, some I didn't. Some concepts are actually worked, some maybe not so much.

Bonus Scorecard!

Just for fun, I went back through Rovin and looked at the character descriptions for each of the entries that had one. Surprisingly, two concepts matched!

Well, thanks for taking the walk through some superhero goofiness (both Madison Comics' and mine). It was a fun exercise for a bit - and who knows, maybe these folks will show up again sometime.

Peculiarities Part 4

The continuing (re)imaging of heroes from Madison Comics. Part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here.

On the lower left is our android entry, The Purple Unicorn. I honestly struggled with where to go with this until I got the idea of a power beam from the forehead, which might give rise to such a monicker. I a little electronic "mane" (antennae?) just seals the deal.

Swooping in overhead is Rainbow. I have always been enamored of the way Bobby Drake - Iceman gets around, so I just wanted to duplicate that with a rainbow instead of ice. It's made of hard light or something. (It also matches a spell I once had playing an Oracle in D&D.)

Standing ominously in lower right is The Red Octopus. When I was a kid during the cold war, the term red octopus had a particularly menacing meaning. I think this guy was just inspired by the pretty sea creature. The tentacles are powered by steampunk-pneumatics.

A peculiar diversion

So, it's tough times all around, no doubt, but here's a bit of a fluff-break.

First of all, you need to read this post to refresh your memory.

Now for a correction: the Doctor Peculiar comic was not a one-hit-wonder -- it was a two-issue triumph! Viz:

  

Also, in addition to the superheroes gleaned from the back of the Rovin encyclopedia, GCD now has a listing for the title and reports that the first issue included a six-page story about Muffy Brandon, Space Explorer and a house ad for Julie Winsome, Medical Detective. What breadth! What depth!

Anyway...

I honestly can't remember how I was struck by the idea, but I decided to do character sketches for all the characters in this odd little assortment of heroe, just going down the list one by one. Here are the first installments on the project:

On the right is the Bronze Bruin. I'm not sure yet if he's a were-bear or just an intelligent bear like Smokey. He wears a mask so he won't be recognized, I guess...

Down in the lower left corner is Dinosaur Man. I imagine him as powerful industrialist or high-tech CEO, who just happens to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex-human hybrid. Very cultured and sophisticated, untl he eats you.

In the center is Doctor Peculiar: jazz musician by night, occult do-gooder by... other nights. A little more Phantom Stranger than Dr. Strange.

The tall guy on the left is Flame Tree, with energy shield and throwy-fire bit. Not real happy with the costume, which is supposed to evoke Zulu designs.

On the right is the Green Lance, a total ripoff of leather-jacket-phase Black Knight from Marvel. I suppose he has some kind of  laser-lance or something, or maybe that's just his name, not his weapon of choice.

In the middle is Hanu-Man. Since Hanuman is an actual Hindu divinity, the center of many stories of adventure, I figure he's sort of a Don Blake/Thor type character, a regular guy who transforms into a superhero version of the god. And he carries the Namor vibe, wearing as he does just a speedo.

This has been a nice diversion for me - I hope to present the remaining dozen before too long.

Who knows, I might even get around to Muffy Brandon and Julie Winsome.

A superabundance of bunny

So, as I related over on Epicurus, I got a couple of Usagi Yojimbo phonebooks on the occasion of my last birthday.

I could go on and on about this series - rightly called a saga in these collections. Whether we are speaking of art, or writing, or character designs, or historical accuracy, or ethical perspective, the Usagi stories are a treasure. Stan Sakai is masterful, and the consistent high quality of his work is nothing less than astonishing. I could read these every day; if you're looking for a way into graphic books, this epic story of a 16th century Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals is a lot more accessible than most of the current superhero stuff.

There's only one hurdle: Usagi has been around for so long, one wonders where to begin!

Getting these collections reminded me that I dd have some Usagi Yojimbo titles in my shortbox already:

• I have a 2010 Number 1 from Dark Horse Publishing; it's actually a reprinting of the real Number 1 from 1995. I guess the #99 I have from 2006 is from that original series (apparently still going at #160 or so).

• I also have a Number 1 from the color series by Mirage Publishing that began in 1993; actually, I go all the way to #9 (of 16) with that one.

• I also have a 1992 Color Special (#3) from Fantagraphics. (This series ran to something like 40 issues.)

You see, Usagi has traveled from publisher to publisher, and starred in a few titles other than his own, and that makes collecting the oeuvre problematical  Since the slightly OCB completist in me really wants to start at the very beginning and read my way all the way through in one collection, this is an issue. The Saga phonebooks only compile the Dark Horse series; for the Fantagraphics works, I have to get a separate volume from 2005; and as far as I can tell, the Mirage stories have never been collected. What to do, what to do?

Well, I'll tell ya: just read 'em. Let go of the sequencing and drop in with whatever story you find - you can't go wrong.

Travel along with the rabbit ronin through an exquisitely realized landscape. Discover Japanese mythology and traditions; meet samurai and ninjas and constables and performers; learn about how swords were tested and soy sauce made. Enjoy out-of-canon stories like Space Usagi, a sci-fi extrapolation of the character, and Senso, the wonderful what-if-H.G.-Wells's-Martians-had-landed-in-a-16th-century-Japan-populated-by-anthropomorphic-animals story. Linger over the artwork, thrill to the battles, laugh a lot, and cry a little. It's good stuff. It's like Kurosawa. But with animals.

Conning it old school

 My new hero, the best Captain Marvel I have ever seen.

 
So, a couple of newlywed pals came up from Seattle and joined wonder Wife and I at the Bellingham Comic Con, which is actually held outside of town at the Ferndale Events Center, so go figure.

This was the ninth year for the con, but I really felt like I was going back in time twenty or thirty years. While the con has grown from a sub-300-person gathering in a motel conference room to a respectably crowded event in a decent hall, it was still a comic convention.

 These are comics

 

Nowhere to be seen were huge displays for upcoming movies or television shows, or flashing monitors displaying video games, or even racks of D&D stuff. This place was clearly about comics. There were other fandoms represented in the vendors and the costume contest, to be sure, but comic books, comics shops, back issue dealers, and Artist's Alley had pride of place for sure.

Not my picture - kiped from Instagram - but it captures the flavor

Another kiped photo - but we did buy something from this artist, Pri.

Since it's a small con, there wasn't much in the way of panels or presentations: a trivia contest  and the mid-afternoon costume contest, both held in a room adjoining the main hall, were the only big events. In that sense, too, it mirrored the early days of cons, which were less about showpiece panels and more about fans gathering to trade and complete collections. (They did open the second room up for board gaming after the costume contest, so I guess that counts as an event.)

The costume contest was by turns adorable and a hoot. About a third of the entrants were kids, even one babe in arms, and we got to witness all the enthusiasm (slightly-too-husky Wolverine having a ball) and some nascent skills (on-target Megara looking great) without that slickness and professionalism that for me takes some of the joy out of cosplay at the bigger cons.

My second-favorite cosplayer - 

young Jyn Erso, having completed her walk, watches the other contestants.

Wonder Wife's cosplay selection - Wonder Woman!

The low-key nature of the event made it much more accessible as well. The posted hours were 10 am to 5 pm; we ended our stay at about half-past two and were totally satisfied, having each gotten some prize loot and my having spent a sufficient amount of time poring (and pawing) through discount boxes. Wonder Wife was well pleased with the manageable nature of the excursion.

We'll be back next year, for sure. Maybe even in costume.

The New 52

So, my eldest sister once again proved that she is the more thoughtful sibling. Today, for no specific reason, just out of the blue, I received a package from her in the mail, as I do from time to time, with a little token of her esteem and affection.

This particular item was as wonderful as the others - a deck of playing cards with a wide assortment of images from comics. Some of these are likely in the public domain, but I am certain some others aren't. I'm not sure who the publisher, Nicky Bird Design, is and how he or she thought to do this, but it's pretty cool.



Pretty nice back design.

Two interesting things about the side panel. (1) Who says the Great Age of the Comic instead of the Golden Age of Comics? and (2) In my world, Lichtenstein is pretty much discredited as nothing more than a swipe artist.

Enough kvetching. Here are some of the more noteworthy images.

Lots of love for the Marvel Family in this deck.

I'd wager the off-panel exclamation comes from the Big Red Cheese, too.

Some excellent Kirby art - always the Great Age, no matter when. 

 Just the kind of thing Lichtenstein would swipe.

 

Racy stuff!

 

Okay, now that's just creepy.

 

Sounds like some cats I know... not mine, of course.

 Wait... why... how would you even do this? 

 

"Snifffff..."

Y

 "Yellow-bellied Commie" I have heard a lot, but "Moscow Maniac" sounds like cocktail.

 

C'mon, who names a robot Martha? 

I think this might be the most recent stuff: these guys were married, but as you can see, they had some issues.

 

This looks like a pretty generic boy hero, but check out the back-up strip:

 

 Sandusky and the Senator? It's like the Dundee and the Culhane of comics!

 

The DC sub-genre of WW2 Combat with Added Dinosaurs was actually pretty awesome sometimes.

 

This looks a lot like Maudlin's Willie and Joe, but I don't think it is.

 

This looks a lot like Commissioner Gordon, but I don't think it is.

 

This looks a lot like Gorgo, and if it's not, I'll be annoyed.

 How'd you like to defend these before a House Sub-Committee while crashing from Benzedrine?

 

I call shenanigans - this isn't a comic book cover, it's a pulp magazine.

 Not sure what bar this guy works in...

 

The best for last: classic Gil Kane haymaker-knocking-someone-ass-over-teakettle shot!

(I had this comic!)

So, thank you dear sister. My cribbage games will be even more lively with this deck!

 Me and my big sister from looong ago.

It's here!

So, as I reported about a week ago, I had a great visit to Sterling Silver Comics (Mike Sterling, Esq., Prop.) when I was down in California for Winter break; the idyllic sojourn was marred only by my forgetting there was a Part Two to the story in the X-Men comic that I purchased specifically for one panel by Werner Roth - and of course that panel is not in Part One.

Undaunted, I made mail-order arrangements with the Mikester for the second issue; it was easy, since he's such an Ebay maven and has all the ducks particular that kind of exchange nicely lined up. And today, a package was delivered to my door by a uniformed representative of the federal government.

I want to digress a moment to say that the package was pretty impressive. It was a nice stiff manila envelope with a professional mailing label; inside was a thick backing board and a thinner protective cardboard sheet; and inside that the poly-bagged comic was wrapped in another plastic bag for added protection. Nice.

When I got the issue out, I realized the cover was cooler than I remembered - here it is scanned clear:

The story concerns Count Nefaria's (um, okay) attempt to revive the criminal organization The Maggia (cut it out, Stan!) and use the captive X-Men as pawns in a plot extort one hundred million dollars (that's three quarters of a billion in today's money) from the U.S. government by holding Washington, D.C. hostage in a weird transparent dome. The Count's lieutenants are The Eel, Scarecrow, The Porcupine, Plantman, and The Unicorn. (I thought this group had a name, but if they ever did, it came later.)

As achingly Silver-Age as much of the story is, this installment is as action-packed as promised on the cover, with lots of teamwork from both the X-Men and the Five Bad Guys as they battle through the capital. The Army steps in, apprehending super-heroes and super-villains alike (which was actually pretty reasonable), and that leads to the panel that I have remembered for decades: the not-capture of the Bad Guys.

The panel is almost exactly as I remembered; I had the figures a tiny bit smaller in the frame, but otherwise the layout and composition were just as I recalled. I don't know why this panel, of the thousands upon thousands that have passed my eyeballs, is among those that have burned that flashbulb memory into my brain. There's just something about the almost pictographic arrangement and the hyper-expository dialogue that is totally charming. It's almost like old-school filmmaking when they would interrupt a scene to freeze frame and zoom in and highlight with arrows or other markers the details of a scene before letting it resume speed and play out; I get that same explainer feeling with this.

It must have made an impression of some kind. And now I have it again.

Thanks, Mike.

Am I just jaded? A grab bag.

So, in addition to the wonderful French graphic novel I described here, I found other stuff at that previously-unvisited-by-me comic shop, some back issues and some new. Overall, I was... underwhelmed.

I grabbed four of the Before Watchmen number ones, just to see what all the hullabaloo was about. There was hullabaloo, wasn't there? These seemed to drop off the radar pretty quickly. I guess they ran their six or four issues and got collected, but it sure didn't make a splash in my corner of the world.

Does anybody remember the 1983-season television series Casablanca that was a prequel to the classic movie? Anybody? No? Well, I felt about these books the same way I felt about that series. I worry whenever I agree with Alan Moore about anything, but I am not sure why these exist.

Tiny saving grace: Darwyn Cooke's vision of Silhouette:

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So, this should have grabbed me, if anything did: a pulpy re-imagining of the JSA with some of my favorite characters, and a shot of Doc Fate with twin forty-fives on the cover - shades of The Spider!

But Society of Super-heroes did not engage me. First of all, I couldn't get the whole Multiversity thing - the comic shop guy tried to explain it to me, but either he didn't do a good job or I'm losing my capacity for Big Events, or both. Besides that, characters were introduced into the story in very off-hand ways, as if I was supposed to already know who they were, and the conflict was more of that generic crossing-dimensions-to-conquer-another-universe stuff, and I'm sorry, but those tropes are just so tired and abstract I can't connect to them anymore. Whatever happened to stories about heroes trying to save a life, or win a battle, or stop a catastrophe involving people we had learned to care about instead of millions of faceless masses that are supposed to evoke some kind of vague empathy?

Tiny saving grace: Al Pratt in mask and mufti:

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Is it okay to say I didn't like this all that much? I know it's a whole new direction, and I am glad that a woman named Babs is drawing Batgirl, but maybe I just have to deal with too much hipster culture in my real life to want to visit with the hipsters in Burnside. And has Batgirl been doing that eidetic memory, they've-worn-it-out-on-Sherlock-already thing for very long? I don't remember that being part of what she did, but maybe it was an outgrowth of her Oracle days. I do love the character - a couple of years ago I bought and read all nine issues of this and thought it was wonderful. Maybe I'll wait for the first trade and give it another shot; in the meantime, a colleague was fascinated by the concept so I'll lend this issue to her.

Tiny saving grace: the abundant use of DC's traditional trademark pseudonyms: Hooq for Tinder (or Hinge), Snapgab for Snapchat, and some kind of unnamed not-Facebook. I love that stuff.

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Just so this is not all downer, I did buy one thing that was cool: 

Now, he is a Thark! Nobody could do Barsoon like Murphy Anderson, and all of the DC John Carter stories (by Anderson and by others) have been collected. It's worth picking up.