Famous Fanmail #14 John Carbonaro

July 8, 2010

Famous Fanmail #14 John Carbonaro

Filed under: Famous Fanmail — Doorman @ 6:34 am

You may not be surprised to learn that most people in the comic business grew up reading comic books. However, you might be interested in knowing what they were reading. Here’s a look at “Famous Fanmail”!

In the early 1980s, John Carbonaro purchased the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents from Tower Comics. He published a few T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series but none of them lasted long. A few years later, Deluxe Comics began publishing comics with the same characters, without licensing them from Carbonaro. Unfortunately for J.C., the following court case deemed these characters to be in the public domain. Prior to his comics publishing endeavor, John Carbonaro got a letter printed in Thor #156 (cover date – September 1968).

On Ebay: Thor | T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

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July 7, 2010

Comic Book Easter Eggs #1 Ultimate Adventures

Filed under: Comic Book Easter Eggs — Doorman @ 6:58 am

With any medium, the more you know about it, the more you can appreciate it. Naturally, the same is true of comic books and now that fans who grew up reading comics are working in the industry, we’re treated to more in-jokes and nods more than ever. Here’s a look at another, cool Comic Book ‘Easter Egg’!

In 2002, Marvel issued the ‘U-Decide’ Challenge. It pitted Peter David’s Captain Marvel against Bill Jemas’ Marville and the Joe Quesada-backed Ultimate Adventures (by Ron Zimmerman and Duncan Fegredo). After six issues of each series was released, the best-selling title would be able to continue as an ongoing.

Ultimate Adventures focused on Hawk-Owl, a vigilante hero in Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. He was clearly a knock-off of Batman and this was the story of how he got his sidekick Woody (Robin, for all intents and purposes). Ron Zimmerman used the story to highlight some things that he liked about Batman … and some things he took issue with. Just like Batman, Hawk-Owl’s parents were dead. They didn’t die in a way that would provide motivation for superheroics, though. But, regardless of that, Hawk-Owl became a hero because “it was the right thing to do” … not because he needed a motivation or shove in the right direction to be a hero (like Batman did …. Zimmerman points out not-so-subtly). He also pokes a little fun at the reality of child-endangerment when young sidekicks join in on super-adventures.

Anywho … I’m getting away from the main point here. Y’see, in the final pages of issue number six, Zimmerman/Fegredo put out a nice nod to the origin of Batman. Hawk-Owl and Woody descend upon a mugger who’s holding up a young couple and their son as they’ve just exited a movie theatre showing the Mask of Zorro. True Batman fans will recognize this as the incident that served as the main motivation for Bruce Wayne to become Batman. Now, in the Ultimate Universe, Bruce will never grow up to be the caped crusader! But that’s OK … they’ve already got Hawk-Owl.

Ultimate Adventures #6 interior page - Batman

On Ebay: Ultimate Adventures | Batman

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July 6, 2010

Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed #14 Fantastic Four

Filed under: Swiped: Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed! — Doorman @ 6:53 am

After looking at hundreds of comic book covers, it becomes quickly apparent that not every cover is 100% original. Whether done intentionally or even underhandedly, there’s something about uncovering these “swipes” that adds a new element of fun to reading and collecting comics.

The Fantastic Four have ever been explorers into fantastic worlds and locations. They’ve traveled to exotic locales all over our planet, including the Savage Land and the Inhumans’ Great Refuge. They’ve also traveled to other worlds and dimensions. One such alternate plane of existence they’ve discovered is the Negative Zone. It’s inhabited by all kinds of bizarre and nefarious beings. One of these aliens is Blastaar, the deposed monarch of the Baluurians. He’s able to emit powerful force from both of his hands … and the FF’s always on his bad side. Fantastic Four #215 featured one of their many encounters.

Married With Children was a very popular TV show that lasted for eleven seasons from the late 1980s into the mid 1990s. Capitalizing on its success, NOW Comics licensed the show and began publishing comics based on it. As sales began to fall off, NOW experimented with some strange stories. One such spin-off was Married With Children: the Quantum Quartet, which re-invisioned the cast of the TV show as super-heroes based on the Fantastic Four. It didn’t last long. In fact, issues #3 and 4 were never published. But, a while later, those final two issues emerged, combined within this Big Wrap-Up special. As always, there’s no better way to begin a spoof comic than starting off with a cover swipe.

Fantastic Four #215
February 1980
Ron Wilson

Married With Children: the Quantum Quartet: the Big Wrap-Up
Fall 1994

On Ebay: Fantastic Four | Justice League | Married With Children

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July 5, 2010

One-Shot At Greatness #14 Gen 13/Maxx

Filed under: One-Shot At Greatness — Doorman @ 8:08 am

Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in this ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!

Gen 13/Maxx Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Date: December 1995
Cover Price: $3.50
Writer: William Messner-Loebs
Artist: Tomm Coker

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

The evil Mr. Gone kidnaps Gen¹³ along with a host of children by transporting them all to the outback. With the help of the Maxx and the Brothers Tortoise, the team tries to figure out a way back home. Freefall and Burnout manage to teleport back to the real world by following Gone through a teleport hole in reality. Back on planet Earth, the two heroes find the real-world Maxx, Julie and Sarah who help them figure out a way to defeat Mr. Gone and rescue everyone from the outback. The question remains: Whose Outback were they trapped in?

Tomm Coker‘s artwork is hard to pin down. He’s got some real shining moments here (like the giant floating monkey … and his Isz look as if they were drawn by Kieth himself) but some of his humans look strange (especially their faces). I guess I’m just spoiled by Sam Kieth’s art when it comes to Maxx books. It’s nice to see this crossover written by William Messner-Loebs (the scripter for the Maxx) because I think the balance between the Outback and the real world would be hard to handle for a writer who wasn’t familiar with the concepts. And, while his name is on the title of the book … this story isn’t really about the Maxx, all that much. It focuses more on Gen¹³ as they adjust to the strangeness that is the Outback. So, if you’re looking for some more Maxx/Julie story, you’ll probably be a little disappointed. However, if you’re interested to see an outsider’s perspective on the Outback … then this is the place to be.

On Ebay: Maxx | Gen 13 | William Messner-Loebs | Tomm Coker

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July 3, 2010

Minimate Spotlight #9 Cosmic Silver Surfer

Filed under: Minimate Spotlight — Donny B @ 7:42 am

Action figures have long been a perfect compliment to comic books, since every kid (or kid at heart) has that natural desire to act out adventures with their favorite heroes off the drawn page. Every so often, a unique style of figure comes along that breaks the mold, so to speak. Each Saturday, Donny B will be showcasing various offerings from Art Asylum’s take on the ‘block figure’, with a weekly spotlight on Minimates.

Aside from a relatively short stint at Wal Mart and Target, the only “big name” store to ever carry Minimates was Toys R Us. For the most part, the only readily available outlet for Minimates is either a local comic book shop, or one of about a dozen online retailers. This makes sense, considering the “collector toy line” nature of Minimates. They may look like they have little kid appeal (and apparently Art Asylum banks on that age group as their major demographic), but really the only people who go hard core for these toys are the more grown up collectors.

That being said, Toys R Us has gained a lot of love from the Minimate fan base, since they are the only national chain to carry Minimates (apparently they haven’t brought ‘mates to their worldwide stores just yet). But it’s not simply a bigger outlet for the same thing you could find at your local comic dealer or an e-tailer. Toys R Us has brokered a deal with Diamond Select Toys (the company who owns Art Asylum, creator of Minimates) to deliver customers “TRU exclusive” releases, such as the release of Cosmic Silver Surfer:

Behind the Image:

I wanted to give Silver Surfer the appearance of surfing through some sort of cosmic something (maybe a nebula cloud? Who knows – it’s space after all. Anything could work. Go watch an episode of Star Trek and you’ll see what I mean), but without relying too much on photoshop.

So I simply placed him inside of my car’s tailpipe, and then changed the color scheme in post production to give it a more “cold” feel.

On Ebay: Silver Surfer

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July 2, 2010

Retro-Read #13 Everybody’s Dead

Filed under: Retro-Read — Doorman @ 7:11 am

With years spent reading single issues here and there, juggling storylines of dozens of titles, I decided it was time to find a better way to read comics. So, it was off to the back issue bins armed with the longest want list you’ve ever seen! Putting together series after series and reading them in their complete goodness, I was reborn as the Retro-Reader!

Publisher: Idea and Design Works
Number of Issues: 5
First Issue: March 2008 ($3.99)
Last Issue: July 2008 ($3.99)
Writer: Brian Lynch
Artist: Dave Crosland

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

Westerberg and his Beta Eta Delta frat brothers are throwing a Halloween party … perhaps the last party, unbeknownst to them. The drama starts up when his ex-girlfriend (who he still holds a candle for), Aurora, shows up and then kicks into high gear when a rival frat, the Omegas, shows up to start a fight. Largely outnumbered, the Deltas are saved by their brother Mosby, who wards the Omegas off with a pistol (it’s actually Megatron in his weapon form – but who can see clearly at night, right?)! Needless to say, the threat of a weapon drove most of the partiers away and left the boys alone to a quiet night.

When the brothers wake up the next morning, they discover that the world’s population has been turned to zombies! Everyone, that is, except for those who stayed at their house last night. The brothers have to fight to stay alive now … but the zombie Omegas aren’t going to make that easy. Even after being zombie-ized, they still hold a grudge over the Deltas stealing their frat-house … but now they want to eat the Deltas’ brains, too! On the plus side: what better way to win back your ex-girlfriend than by surviving a zombie invasion together?

The Bad: Crosland’s art is certainly unique and I’ve enjoyed it in other titles … I’m just not sure he was the best pick for this story. The other downside I found here was that there wasn’t one strong main character that captured my interest. Even Westerberg, who seems to be the main focus, is kind of wussy and his gf/exgf clearly wears the pants.

the Good: The zombie invasion story’s been done hundreds of times by now so it was fun to see it against the backdrop of a college fraternity “war”. Plus, I imagine that this was the first story to spotlight the consequences of a stoned zombie with the munchies.

The Verdict: The art is quirky (which fits the storyline) and may not appeal to all readers but the story is an adventurous romp that uses humor and fun situations to play down the horror aspect of a zombie invasion. I wouldn’t run out to read a sequel but, then again, I’m not upset that I read through this one. The tagline on the front cover is what convinced me to give it a try: They’re the last people on Earth who should be the last people on Earth! How can you turn down a line like that?

On Ebay: Brian Lynch | Dave Crosland

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July 1, 2010

Famous Fanmail #13 Dave Cockrum

Filed under: Famous Fanmail — Doorman @ 6:35 am

Dave Cockrum was the artist on the now-famous “all-new, all-different” version of the X-Men that featured a new group of international mutants including Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Storm. His first run as artist lasted for about a year until he was replaced by John Byrne in 1977. Cockrum returned to the title for another run in 1981. After about a year and a half, Cockrum resigned from the X-Job to create his own group of super-heroes: the Futurians. Prior to that, he was a fan of Marvel’s version of the Norse God of Thunder. His letter, from Thor #132 (cover date – September 1966), exposes his concern for an ill-founded “conspiracy” to replace the Thor title with Hercules as the main star.