Rolling Comic Book thread 2017

In further search of what appealed to me about Marvel superheroes as a kid, I've been looking at Marvel Masterpieces cards. Trading cards of comic characters were huge for me, but I wish they had just been art books instead of all that waste of paper (doublers) and people buying insane amounts just to get rare cards.
I know some people hate them but I think the Hildebrandt brothers could create really powerful colours and lighting.

I'm not sure I would have got into superheroes through most of the popular DC characters. Maybe the colour designs of Marvel characters deserves more credit. Maybe the more defined anatomy of modern superheroes was important, the night time settings definitely were (maybe Frank Miller deserves that credit?).

I kind of wish I had my superhero phase later on in life. I'm glad I came to metal later on because I probably would have heard so much more crap metal if I started young.

I'm a little concerned for anyone who honestly thought that Captain America was actually a secret Nazi now and that that shit wasn't going to be completely reversed at some point.

It's a real thing! Saw lots of outrage on my FB timeline - though tellingly none of it came from comic book fans. It took a while for me to realise that, yeah, within most other kinds of culture a new plot development has a good chance of being permanent and not a six month "no man we take it back" thing.

Still kinda sad that Marvel can't just pitch that shit as an interesting story and has to go through those motions, though.

i mean i really enjoy it (i have to keep it stashed away since i don't want my kids browsing it)

This reminds me, in 1990 I left home for the first time and moved to Seattle and initially I was staying with my aunt and uncle while looking for a room somewhere. I brought my few boxes of favorite comics in from the car so they wouldn't get fucked up by weather. My second night there, I look over and somehow my ten year old cousin has pulled out a small stack of yummy furs and guess what page he has open

Fukitor is great, Mordy otm

xp

guess what page he has open

Ronald Reagan penis-head?

Re: Clone Saga again. I like how the deeply tortured Kaine must have sat down and designed a costume that expressed his despair but made room for his lovely hair. It must have taken him ages to get the veins right when he was knitting.

Xpost the spread where the scientists are cutting off dicks to perform the transplant

welp, you've scarred him now!

When I was 9 or 10 at my first comic shop visit, these Bissette covers taken a while to process. Especially the farting part.

https://www.comics.org/series/84895/covers/

wow I've never seen either of those

"comics: not just for kids anymore!" lol

this is the cover that most fucked me up as a kid
http://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/0e/5e/190e5eca6d555e99c831a81ac5bd4a4b.jpg

EC was just so great

I have that issue!! it may have been the first EC comic I ever bought.

all of the shock/crime covers are just incredible.

I got that one and the one with the junkie as a two-fer

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ep.tc%2Fproblems%2F29%2Fshk.jpg&f=1

that one def fucked me up too.

I'm guessing these were the East Coast 1970s reprints you had, rather than the originals:

https://atomicavenue.com/title/1773/EC-Classic-Reprints

yep, had all those. also got the gladstone/diamond ones that started reprinting. then bought the hardback cochran editions whenever i could. then the fanta artist reprints. and now have torrents of the complete runs. EC Addict!

Still reading that series about the 90s Clone Saga. Seems like I wasn't crazy in being excited by the early parts of it (although it had problems from the start).
I've never understood why so many writers persisted for years in trying to keep Aunt May alive and trying to get rid of Mary Jane. I don't remember anyone ever doing anything interesting with Aunt May, the explanation for her revival is extremely bad. They gave her a good send-off then ruined it.

Editors blame the marketing department for continually extending the Clone Saga when it was selling extremely well. It was only supposed to last a few months, then by extending it they created problems that taken them much longer to undo.

This is a quote from Tom DeFalco I found interesting. He's addressing the complaint of Marvel having too many similar characters, including Fantastic Force.

As for his belief that a SCARLET SPIDER book would have eventually failed, he is entitled to his opinion. I certainly believe that the powers-that-were at Marvel would have eventually cancelled the book even if it was selling...just like they cancelled THUNDERSTRIKE and WAR MACHINE even though both books were profitable. Since I had access to the actual sales during that period, I can attest to the fact that at the time it was canceled THUNDERSTRIKE was actually selling more copies than both THOR and AVENGERS combined. Why were profitable titles like THUNDERSTRIKE, WAR MACHINE and all the 2099 books cancelled? The answer I was given was that the guy in charge of marketing had decided that these additional titles were hurting the core company franchises. He believed that the sales on THOR would go up as soon as THUNDERSTRIKE was cancelled, and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN would increase with SPIDER-MAN 2099 gone. Nice theory...but I still think it was nonsense."

Never knew of Fukitor before today, but looking at that Google Book preview has definitely confirmed i need not investigate further: it looks AWFUL

Same here. Too much (fill in the blank) for me.

I never liked the look of it either.

It was this 174-post comment thread on Groth's website that drew his attention to the work: http://www.tcj.com/new-small-press-comics/

Finally got round to Jillian Tamaki's BOUNDLESS, which is a really nicely done collection of stories, though sometimes they just stop rather than end. Recommended.

i found this very helpful

Pronunciation guide for Marvel staffer names, circa 1984 pic.twitter.com/62sa74bf0A

— Matthew Perpetua (@perpetua) October 30, 2017

that IS useful!

I had pretty much all of those right except I was giving dematteis an extra syllable

Ehhhhhh, I actually think you might be right, Jon. I knew someone who was close friends with his son, and I'm fairly certain she pronounced his name with that extra syllable.

Jansan JONsen is a tricky one and

I've heard interviews with DeMatteis, and he pronounces it with four syllables (or maybe 3.6)

This seems like a reliable source

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F5sqM7334A

Marvel fucking up continuity again

more surprised that he calls himself "j.m." but i guess ya gotta roll with it

he goes by "Marc" in actual conversation with humans

This is wonderful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrO52WmwV4U

Love Flo Steinberg.

Indian comics for the XTREEM 90s
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/bheriya/4050-31910/?page=1&sortBy=asc

i've been reading chronological issues of WHIZ comics from the forties for the captain marvel content. they're fun! one ongoing dumb joke is that when people see billy change to cap (which he regularly does in front of the bad guys for some reason) and they do the "hey weren't you just a kid" bit, he always has this snappy comeback "I'll tell you when I come back.... MAYBE."

also i just read all of BLUBBER and wow it's twisted as fuck and i like it
especially prefer it over the skinemax-y birdland type porn beto had been doing; this stuff is the opposite of erotic.

http://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/2014/04/hindi-comic-covers.html

I think my preferred way of enjoying comics is listening to Joe McCulloch talk about something ridiculous and obscure that I couldn't be bothered reading the whole way through. I love listening to him talk about trashy comics. In an ideal world he'd make a good living from talking about pulpy comics he'd dug up.

If you're wondering where you can listen to McCulloch, just go to the menu on this video and select episodes. He's just one of four people in the podcasts, but he often dominates.
http://www.factualopinion.com/the_factual_opinion/2017/09/this-week-in-comics-rip.html

I listened to the Eros comics history with Tom Spurgeon, heaven I tell ya! Some funny stories in there.

Never heard of those Carter & Rydyr comics before, that's some of the weirdest shit I've seen in a while.

Yeah, McCulloch is fucking great. Also enjoy his movie podcast.

Isn't that Tucker Stone and other guys? I don't remember McCulloch being on the movie podcast much.

By the way, there are two episodes with Eros in the title. The One I was talking about is Inside The Tent: Memories Of Eros Comix.

RAG, true! I kinda mash up those Factual Opinion guys in my brain.

Actually those Carter & Ryder comics are like a way more fucked up version of Blubber by Gilbert Hernandez. It was speculated they're a husband and wife team but I can't find any confirmation.

well i suppose i gotta go find thsoe now.

innnnnnteresting
http://www.weirdwildart.com/books/bookchart.html