Cyberspace Comics market report, reviews and more

September 30, 2010

Famous Fanmail #26 Dennis Mallonnee

Filed under: Famous Fanmail — Doorman @ 6:45 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”!

Dennis Mallonee is one of the main driving forces behind Heroic Publishing. He’s written for almost all of their titles the Champions, Eternity Smith and Flare. Years before his professional comics career began, he got a letter printed in Thor #283 (cover date – May 1979) chastising Marvel’s decision to include the Eternals in the mainstream Marvel Universe.

Thor letters page with Dennis Mallonee

On Ebay: Thor | Dennis Mallonnee

September 29, 2010

Glow in the Dark Comics #11 Sandman

Filed under: Glow in the Dark Comics — Doorman @ 6:37 am

During the speculator boom in the 1990s comic book market, publishers enhanced comic covers to increase sales. These gimmicks included shiny foil, holograms and even pop-ups! But, one of the coolest enhancements was the glow in the dark cover. Let’s shed some light on the subject, shall we?

Sandman Special #1 glows in the darkPublisher: DC Comics
Cover Date: 1991
Cover Price: $3.50

Two years after Neil Gaiman started his legendary Sandman, DC Comics released this Sandman Special. It featured an all-new story by Gaiman and also included characters pin-ups by well-regarded artists including Barry Windsor-Smith, Peter Craig Russell, Simon Bisley, Kent Williams, Dave McKean and Sergio Aragones. To celebrate this first in a long line of Sandman spin-offs, we were treated to a glow in the dark cover that reveals a special message from Morpheus: “In Dreams I Walk With U.”

On Ebay: Sandman

September 28, 2010

Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed #26 Nick Fury

Filed under: Swiped: Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed! — Doorman @ 3:55 pm

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 first Scorpio debuted in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1. Jim Steranko concocted a now-classic cover featuring Nick and his pals with his evil brother, Jake (Scorpio), lurking just around the corner. Years later, Acclaim Comics had a “swipe month”, and Bloodshot paid homage to this classic cover. Gordon Purcell also paid homage to that very cover with the Christian comic, Powermark’s Seeker Series.

Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
June 1968
Jim Steranko
Bloodshot vol. II #5
Bloodshot vol. II #5
November 1997
Sal Velluto
PowerMark Seeker Series #5
PowerMark Seeker Series #5
2003
Gordon Purcell

On Ebay: Nick Fury | Seeker Series | Jim Steranko | Gordon Purcell | PowerMark | Bloodshot | Sal Velluto

September 27, 2010

One-Shot At Greatness #26 Fly Boys

Filed under: One-Shot At Greatness — Doorman @ 7:45 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!

Fly Boys #1 by Jim Krueger & Phil HesterPublisher: Big Bad World Productions
Cover Date: 1999
Cover Price: $3.00
Writer: Jim Krueger
Artist: Phil Hester

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

In 1933 London, a young boy plants an idea in Ian Fleming‘s mind. Nine years later, that idea has come to its fruition in the form of the Fly Boys – a squad of British soldiers armed with flying suits. The story follows the group on a recon mission over Castle Ausblick. However, everything doesn’t go as planned and the Fly Boys find themselves attacked by the Germans, who are hoping to capture the Fly Boy technology for themselves.

Well, this is certainly a unique comic book. It’s laid out in the “wide-screen” style and only has 12 story pages. There are no ads but it includes four pages of sketches accompanied by writings from Krueger about the idea behind Fly Boys. Plot-wise, it’s a neat bit of retro-fitting WWII history with some nifty flying technology but the book fails to establish much else. Although, to be fair, we’re only working with 12 pages, here. As always, Phil Hester‘s art is seemingly basic at first but the more you study it, the more you unravel. Krueger could have something cool on his hands here but, 12 pages of story is just not enough to hook me.

On Ebay: Fly Boys | Jim Krueger | Phil Hester

September 25, 2010

Minimate Spotlight #21 Team Up

Filed under: Minimate Spotlight — Donny B @ 8:29 pm

 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.

One thing that every kid loves is taking all their favorite heroes and teaming them up together for a big fight against an ultimate evil. And you can see that in all of the big crossover comic events (Final Crisis; Secret Invasion, etc) and tv shows  (Justice League Unlimited; Batman the Brave and the Bold) and movies (the building Avengers movie universe) that comic book companies give us on a regular basis… but invariably, there will always be team ups that you will never see from an official source. For example, you will never see a movie where Yoda has to recruit Mega Man and Darkwing Duck to take down the Borg before they infiltrate the Batcave and foil James Bond’s mission.

It just won’t happen…
Unless you imagine it, that is.

That’s the beauty of creativity, and resources like action figures. It allows kids (or kids-at-heart) to live out the adventures that they would love to see but may not have the chance to via the companies that own those properties.

This week’s image is simply an homage to the enjoyment of being able to say “I know this team up may never really happen, but I think it’d be cool”.

Behind the Image:

No magic with this shot. I placed the Minimates in the positions I wanted them in, layed out a solid sheet of black paper as the background, set a lamp, and utilized my camera’s macro mode. Voila 🙂

On Ebay: Hulk, Iron Man, Angel, Scarlet Spider

September 24, 2010

Retro-Read #25 Meltdown

Filed under: Retro-Read — Doorman @ 11:09 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!

Meltdown #1Publisher: Image Comics
Number of Issues: 2 (plus a retailer-exclusive preview)
First Issue: December 2006 ($5.99)
Last Issue: January 2007 ($5.99)
Writer: David B. Schwartz
Artist: Sean Wang

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

Cal’s heat-powers have destroyed his life. They put an end to a promising career as a major-league baseball pitcher. Since he quit high school to chase his baseball dream, he was left with no other job-worthy skills … so he became a super-hero out of desparation. They’ve rendered him infertile, ending his marriage to the love of his life. Now they’re eating his body from the inside out and he’s only got a few days to live.

In his final days on Earth, Flare (Cal’s super-hero code name) decides to end the threat of his arch-nemesis, Maelstrom, forever. He also intends to patch things up with his ex-wife, Amara. But, perhaps what he didn’t expect was to become the hero he never dreamed about being and leaving behind an inspiration.

The Bad: I wonder if the double-sized issue format may have hindered sales of this book. I can’t help but think it would have sold a bit more had it been four regular-sized issues, instead. It looks like every hero/villain name has been taken already. Flare (the main character) is the name of a well-established, indepenent super-heroine and Maelstorm (the villain) is a villain’s name from the Marvel Universe.

The Good: Schwartz told a touching super-hero story here while flushing out Flare’s characterization and past through a bunch of flashbacks. Wang did a great job of switching up his art-styles between the present action and the past experiences. These switches did a wonderful job of indicating what time period it belonged to. And, even though the character wasn’t too thrilled to be a super-hero, the story made him quite empathetic. Latinos will appreciate the main character’s heritage but, the writer did a nice job of not laying it on too thick (keeping it accessible to all ethnic groups). In addition to a fantastic art/story team, the covers were illustrated by two high-profile (yet diversely different in style) artists: Chris Bachalo and Greg Horn.

The Verdict: It’s rare to see a super-hero story told with so much heart but this series really makes you feel for its main character. This is probably because the story pushes him through so many extreme emotions … allowing the reader to experience his ups and downs. As mentioned before, the artist switches up his style, making it easy to tell when the story is set in the present or when it’s one of the many flashbacks that provide important character development. This book deals with a subject that mainstream super-hero publishers (logically) can’t believably take on and that’s what sets this series apart. It doesn’t pull any punches and allows us to witness the final days of a true hero.

On Ebay: Meltdown

September 23, 2010

Famous Fanmail #25 Cat Yronwoode

Filed under: Famous Fanmail — Doorman @ 12:10 pm

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”!

After getting a short letter published in the previous issue, catherine yronwode returned the following month to provide a poignant investigation into the more headier concepts that the Thor series can introduce. You can read that letter, which was printed in Thor #279 (cover date – January 1979) below.

Thor letters page with Catherine Yronwode

On Ebay: Thor | Cat Yronwode

September 22, 2010

Before They Were Comic Book Stars #8 Jim Steranko

Filed under: Before They Were (Comic Book) Stars — Doorman @ 7:13 am

Not every comic writer or artist starts at the top, working on books like Batman or X-Men. In fact, most don’t even start at Marvel or DC. Here’s a look at some work by comic book creators … before they were stars.

Strange Tales #151 by Jim SterankoJim Steranko‘s unique art style made him one of the first comic book super-star artists. Over four decades ago, he created covers for Captain America and Nick Fury that are still paid homage to by today’s artists.

His first comic art was published in September 1966 and two months later, his first Marvel work was published in Strange Tales #151. Not only did he provided the cover alongside Jack Kirby but, he also worked on the interior art of the Nick Fury story, as well. A few short months later and Jim Steranko was drawing and writing the Nick Fury feature. Not too bad for his first year in comics.

On Ebay: Jim Steranko

September 21, 2010

Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed #25 Thor

Filed under: Swiped: Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed! — Doorman @ 10:28 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.

In the early 1990s, a common story element was to replace the main character with a similar but newer and more modern character. After seemingly killing his adopted brother, Loki, Thor was banished. Before he left, he entrusted his hammer to Eric Masterson to carry on the role of Thor (which he did, debuting in issue #433). As with all of these changes, it was only a matter of time until the status quo returned and Thor took back the lead in his own book. This happened 24 issues later in issue #457. Afterwards, Eric went on to become Thunderstrike and starred in his own ongoing series.

Thor #433
Thor #433
June 1991
Ron Frenz
Thor #457
Thor #457
January 1993
Ron Frenz

On Ebay: Thor | Ron Frenz | Thunderstrike

September 20, 2010

One-Shot At Greatness #25 Mr. Gum

Filed under: One-Shot At Greatness — Doorman @ 12:48 pm

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!

Mr. Gum #1 by Mike Allred & J. BonePublisher: Oni Press, AAA Pop Comics
Cover Date: April 2003
Cover Price: $2.99
Writer: Mike Allred
Artist: J. Bone

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

Frank Einstein (Madman) discovers his beatnik pal Jack Pomade (Mr. Gum of the Atomics) homeless and ridden with amnesia on the streets of Snap City. He brings Mr. Gum to Dr. Gillespie Flem, who restores his memories via a drinkable concoction. Now, Mr. Gum remembers that he was drugged by William Shriner (VP of his father’s candy business), along with all of the other employees at the company in the hopes of winning the beautiful Daisy. So, Mr. Gum sets out to take down the dastardly villain with the help of his teammates, the Atomics. With Shriner subdued, the company’s employees are released from their stupor and Mr. Gum is given a wonderful opportunity to reunite with his estranged father.

Here’s a heart-warming tale in the style of the Silver Age of comics-storytelling. There’s colorful super-heroes, a brewing romance, family tenderness and a not-so-extremely-evil-to-the-core villain with a “whacky” weapon designed to help him get his way. There’s nothing new here in the way of super-heroics but if you enjoy classic super-hero stories, this one’s for you.

On Ebay: Atomics | Mike Allred | J. Bone

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