COMIC BOOK JONES

Finding Light In The Dark Age Of Comics

2012-05-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

I thought I would ask the SECOND biggest comic geek I know to do a guest column this week. I am talking about none other than my own daughter Alyx who many of you call Sasha. I was going to say something pithy but I will just let her work speak for itself. I may be biased but i think it's good stuff! The world isgetting a little to dark and gritty for me. Not Liefeld gritty but definitely Millergritty. I won’t insult your intelligence by stating the obvious too often buthang on don’t stop reading I’m building up to something when I say that we livein a genuinely pessimistic age and our pop-culture is very reflective of that. . The end of the SilverAge showed that characters COULD die now and the Bronze Age took a darker bendto it as well, but never without plot relevant reasons. The Bronze Age endedwhen Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns hit the shelves and changedeverything. Art got darker, the plot lines got darker, and heroes were morelikely to be anti-heroes and sometimes downright unlikable (in the case ofUltimate Wolverine). This also became the height of Rob Liefeld’s career andwhile he certainly can’t draw his age left many new characters who are massivefan favorites today…after someone else started writing them, as was the casewith the ever lovable Deadpool. For most people myage who lack the education my father so kindly bestowed upon me (hey, someonehas to take up the shield) the idea of comics brings really only three thingsto mind: Batman, non-Euclidian body shapes, and convoluted stories. Eventalking to some of my friends who don’t read comics with the same enthusiasm Ido can be a challenge because when trying to explain that Thor’s Uru hammer Mjolniris a cane in that panel and no really this Donald Blake guy is totally Thor butisn’t really a secret identity but is a separate person and wait where are yougoing? Even trying to talk about Cable is impossible as you can imagine. Convincingpeople to pick up a comic these days becomes a pain when they’re under theimpression that either the stories are completely ridiculous or impossiblydark. For about twodecades it’s been hard to pick up an ongoing comic and not find a senselessdeath (A la Speedy’s daughter Lian in Cry for Justice), a flanderizedcharacter (Ultimate Captain America sticks out most in my mind), or heroesdoing stupidly, strangely evil and nonsensical things with no foreshadowing orgoing directly against previous canon (Maxwell Lord). The anti-hero characters thatget darker often become nigh unlikable, again in the case of the already dark Wolverine’sincarnation into the Ultimate universe. In Ultimates 3, he responds toHawkeye's comments that he used to be in the brotherhood with the comment"Yeah, and you used to be married with two kids"; a reference to hisfamily's murder in the previous story. I’m not sayingthat all dark, gritty, violent stories are bad and I have nothing against agood spot of the old ultra-violence. In fact, many of them are quite good,particularly Dennis O’Neil’s 1987 run on The Question which I hold to bethe greatest incarnations of the character and one of my favorite noir stylecomics, though I may be biased as he is my favorite superhero. What I am sayingis that in a lot of stories, these conventions tend to be a crutch for thewriter and the narrative arcs become bland only broken up by blood spatters onthe page. You don’t need tobuild up good suspense when you can have a wham death or startling gore on the smearingits way across panels. The issue isn’t violence; it is the lack of effectivelyused of violence within many stories in this day and age. When Gwen Stacy diedit was tragic and changed the face of comics forever, when Jason Todd died itwas shocking and changed Batman forever, and even when The Question died fromlung cancer in 52 it resonated with the reader. When Marvin gets killedby Wonder Dog in Teen Titans #66 or when the Wasp was cannibalized bythe Blob in Ultimates 3 it’s just shock horror with no lead up and noreal emotion attached. They stop being people and start being cannon fodder andas anyone who knows Star Trek well can tell you, you never get attachedto the red shirts. What makes thiseven sadder is that bright, genuinely well written comics like the pre-new 52 BlueBeetle run don’t last as long as they should have because the writers foundbetter ways to inject their stories with life and had a use for any violenceand gore they decided to use. The stories with a lighthearted bend are seen asbeing “kid’s stuff” and aren’t as well appreciated by older readers because ofthis. So the title ofthis article is about finding the light. What do I mean by that? Well it’spretty simple. Some heroes just plain refuse to be dragged down to this leveland I feel like they should be commended. For every story where someone isholding the idiot ball and is acting like a villain, there’s a Captain America(main continuity Cap) to plant himself like a tree beside the river of truthand refuse to move. For every morally questionable action Batman commits thatchips away at his three-dimensionality, there’s a Superman to talk a person downfrom suicide. And for every attempt to shoot the Hulk into space, there’s afriendly neighborhood Spider-man looking into the abyss and not blinking. There arearguments that Captain America and Superman are boring characters and a lot ofthat comes from this stubbornness to keep from becoming gritty. Superman isoften accused of not being three dimensional and Cap suffers from being seen asirrelevant to most casual comic fans who’d rather read about anyone else. Theyare examples of a bygone age where a city could be in a bottle and you couldsock Adolf Hitler in the jaw and no one would scoff but they are stillrelevant. One of the biggest things the writers of these dark, gritty storiesoften forget is that there needs to be hope. Light at the end of the darkMiller-esque tunnel. When a story is oppressively dark and violent, when no onecan come in and save the day or at least offer a helping hand, the story itselfloses three dimensionality and becomes boring. So what has beenthe point of my rambling? Simple. Give the lighthearted stories a chance anddon’t immediately assume that the dark stories are more complex and byextension better. Don’t be afraid to believe in Superman or Captain America.And be discerning, a good, dark story should make you feel something but shouldn’tbe oppressive and emotionally draining and a good lighthearted story should beuplifting but have the right amount of conflict. I recommendpicking up the paperback collections of The Question written by Dennis O’Nealand the Blue Beetle collections pre-reboot. They give a great spectrum. Andin the words of Batman about our big blue boy scout: “Flying out of the sky, heonce again shows us why he sets the standard for so many. Many see him as anaive boy scout whipped by his own selflessness. They will not, cannot, see himfor what he is, a hero.”

Forever Knight

2012-05-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Has anybody noticed the de-fanging of the American (or even NON American) Vampire? With shows, books and movies like Tru Blood, Vampire Diaries and Twilight, it seems the Vampire in the post Buffy/Angel era is more concerned with the soap opera state of their relationships with teenaged girls than they are with taking a bite out of humans. And Now Dark Shadows…DARK FREAKIN’SHADOWS is a COMEDY!!! STOP the madness! News flash….Vampires are NOT supposed to be all cuddly! …Monsters much??? Even Angel was good for the occasional homicidal rampage when his soul would go missing. Spike was good for a brawl even AFTER he got his soul back. Hell, even Angel knock off Mick St. John from Moonlight spent as much time throwing down as he did romancing the admittedly ravishing Sophia Miles (of Underworld fame). Now anyone who even remotely knows me, understands that I still mourn the passing of both my beloved Buffy and (in a manly way of course) beloved Angel. Both shows were able to make vampires compelling and even sympathetic without ever letting the audience forget that these creatures are inherently dangerous. Anne Rice gave us a plethora of Vampires who could out brood Angel himself BUT would regularly take time out from self reflection to rip out a neck or two. I grant you that Angel AND Spike were both obsessed with young Buffy Summers, but SHE could totally kick their asses! I realize that True blood in particular is very popular but the Vamps there seem as much obsessed by sex and drugs as by BLOOD. Which for most of them is synthetic!!!! What is THAT all about?? Faux Blood is like taking your sister to the Prom! Where is the carnage? Where is the murder?? Where is the mayhem??? Where is the FUN??!!! If not for Walking Dead we’d be surrounded by cuddly, angst ridden monsters! At least you can still count on Zombies. Ok…enough moaning on my part. Let’s talk about a TV series that may be before your time or have escaped your notice. It was part of the “Crime Time After PrimeTime” late night line up on CBS during the 1992-1996 seasons. It was about an 800 year old vampire turned Homicide Cop struggling, and eventually FAILING in his quest for redemption. I am talking about Forever Knight. The adventures of Nick Knight, an 800 year old Vampire struggling to find a place in the modern world was the grand daddy of Vampire TV Shows. The concept was borrowed from the Tomb Of Dracula Character, Hannibal King, created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan some years earlier. (King was a private investigator rather than a Homicide Cop and he never actually drank HUMAN blood but he WAS also seeking redemption). FK was essentially TWO shows in one. The main plot thread would deal with the murder of the week, with a sub plot in flashback to one of nick’s previous “lives” spanning the eight centuries of his existence. These flash backs found Nick interacting with the likes of Joan Of Arc and Hitler. There are essentially two conflicts that cover the life of the series. Firs t is Nick’s struggle to regain his humanity and his evolving relationship with Natalie Lambert, the coroner who aids him in his cases. Unlike the defanged Vampires of more recent shows, Forever Knight never lets us forget that Nick is inherently dangerous and that he is perhaps MOST dangerous to the humans he cares for. Nick desperately wants to regain his humanity but is always struggling against his Vampiric nature. Because of this he keeps Natalie at arm’s length for as long as he can. Also unlike more modern Vampire Boy meets Human Girl stories, when Nick consummates his relationship with Natalie, he kills her. Nick’s story is ultimately a tragic one ending with him begging his sire, Lacroix, to end his existence. The final shot of the series is Nick on his knees, his back towards Lacroix with his Sire about to plunge a stake into his own “son”. The other on going conflict in the series is between Nick and his Vampire family. Lacroix and Jannette (his paramour for centuries) simply do not understand why Nick would want to abandon his Vampire nature, and by extension, them. Through the series flashbacks we see that the three spent centuries together and that it was only within the last hundred years or so that Nick set out on his quest for humanity. We see many times where Lacroix foils Nick’s plans. He considers Nick and Janette his children and will not suffer losing either of them. When Nick first comes across Lacroix in modern times, he believes he has killed his sire in a fight. Later Lacroix resurfaces to become Nick’s sometime ally. As for Janette, she now owns a night club for vampires and begins to rekindle her own relationship with Nick. While she does not understand his desire to become human, Janette does not actively try to stop him. In a delicious bit of irony it is Janette who becomes human through her love affair with a mortal. What Nick could never achieve no matter how hard he tried, came to his lover by accident. Through the length of the series, Nick begins to lose those humans who kept him tethered to the mortal world. Both of his partners (Schanke and Tracy) are killed. And when Natalie dies by his own hand, Nick sees the futility in his quest, realizing he was damned the first time he took an innocent life. His only chance for peace now lies in oblivion. What makes Forever Knight so special is the fact that the good guys ultimately lose. We spend three seasons rooting for Nick, who is essentially a good, though tortured person only to see him fail. He fails not only himself, but those he cares most for. In many ways this show is far more “adult” than any Vampire series that has come along in all the years after. Geraint Wyn Davies as Nick and Nigel Bennett as Lacroix are wonderful in their roles and perhaps the most believable Vampires ever put on film. They are individuals who are ALSO Vampires, not the other way around. They also understand the consequences of their actions. Even Lacroix is not merely evil but a multi layered personality who is, in fact capable of remarkable loyalty and love for his “children”. Bennett’s portrayal shows us a cynical man who has simply seen too much of the human condition over HIS 1500 year existence to ever embrace Nick’s idealism. Nonetheless he proves to be Nick’s best friend when the chips are down. FK is also a remarkably SEXY show. It does not get nearly as graphic as Tru Blood or even Buffy. It’s sexuality is suggested rather than depicted, leaving the viewer to fill in the blanks. This technique is always sexier than merely showing semi naked bodies. In Forever Knight the act of feeding is a deeply sexual act and the actors all convey this very strongly. While not widely viewed, Forever Knight has influenced every Vampire series that has followed. The best of them (Buffy and Angel) manage to actually expand on some of the themes of heroism and loss extant in FK. Angel and Spike are never QUITE defanged. The others are merely shadows of a great concept. Forever Knight is currently available (all three seasons) on DVD and I recommend it highly for any fan of Vampire fiction or just good TV. That’s 30! Mitch

2012-04-26T14:52:00.001-07:00

Back in the early days of comic book publishing one of the reasons the books were printed at all was to aid in securing bulk mailing rights for items that could not normally go through the mail and to sell novelties. If you collected comics back in the 1960’s or earlier you would be offered 1,000,000,000 toy soldiers for only $1.99!! Or SEA MONKEYS…whatever they were. You could buy X-Ray Specs or sell SHOES. You could avoid being a 98 pound weakling who was always getting sand kicked in his face. The variety was endless. Looking back on it these advertisements are pretty funny. But in the days of Yore (or even mine), comic ads were big business. Here are some of my favorites from the 1940’s and 1950’s

Because western heroes never left the prairie without their trusty flashlights.

“Johnny put your hand grenade away and do your homework.” …yeah…that’ll work.

This is severely creepy!

Hey kids! Find Uranium! Irradiate your friends! Raise cancer rates for the whole family!!!

Because guys really love gals who can tickle their ivories! (did I say that?) And how’s THIS for political correctness?

“Fat folks”? really….REALLY??!! You can’t make this stuff up. That’s 30! Mitch

Does Crime Pay?

2012-04-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

In 1942 a new comic called Crime Does Not Pay book hit the stands. It was created Charles Biro and Bob Wood. Crime Does Not Pay was the first 'true crime comic book published. By the end of the Second World War this book would boast monthly sales of 800,000 copies. Just as this book was peaking the popularity of the Superhero in Post War America was on the wane. This opened up an opportunity for a new genre to vie for domination of comic book sales for the next decade. Crime Comics.

With sales of Crime Does Not Pay increasing other publishers sought to gain a piece of the market and soon they were launching their own titles. This competition led to an increase in violence and gore, as they each tried to grab the public's attention.

Crime Based comics of the time (1942-1954) in the pre Comics Code days were often graphically violent and, even though the criminals eventually were caught, glorified crime. The books were also meant to titillate the young male audience that read them through the generous use of Good Girl Art (also referred to as GGA or “headlights”).

Eventually, these titles became the target groups that claimed comic books contributed to the rise of juvenile delinquency and illiteracy. After the publication of Dr. Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent and investigations by the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, the industry adopted a strict code administered by the Comics Code Authority.
Among other things a Comics Code approved book could not use words like “Crime” , “Horror” or “terror”. In addition Good Girl Art was strongly toned down, vampires, ghouls , werewolves etc. Could not be used and violence was sanitized across the board. In short Crime Comics were effectively “castrated”.

EC Comics, publisher of (among other titles) Crime SuspenStories was particularly hard hit by the new governing body and after a brief foray into less controversial genres went belly up.

Crime comics from this period remain highly collectible items and often fetch high prices in upper grades.
Today Crime Comics have made something of a comeback with titles such as “100 Bullets”, Brubaker’s “Criminal”, “Road To Perdition” and even “Gotham Central”. Proving that while crime may NOT pay, it is certainly profitable in the comic book business!

That’s 30!

Mitch

Fiction House

2012-04-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

When one looks back on the Golden Age Of Comics , generally considered to have been from 1938 (Action #1) and ending with Showcase #4 (1956), it is easy to think of the big three publishers DC, Timely and Fawcett. To be sure those companies DID dominate the early days of what we would come to recognize as the modern comic books. Superman, Batman, Captain America and Captain Marvel among others are all enduring characters who began during the Golden Age and were published by “The Big Three”

However it would be less than accurate to think of “The Big Three” as the only successful publishers of the era. MLJ would be a major factor with Pep, which began as a Superhero title and would later feature a new character named Archie Andrews. EC comics would dominate the latter part of the Golden Age with more adult fare like “Weird Fantasy” and “Tales from the Crypt”. In fact there was a litany of publishers. Quality, Sun, Better Publications, Harvey, Kosmos and Nita just to name a few.
Comics were everywhere. Superman and Captain Marvel regularly sold well over a million copies per month! Today if a comic book title tops 150,000 copies sold in a month it is at the very top of the charts.

Why? Because during the Golden Age comics were sold in literally TENS of Thousands of locations. Every little candy store and news stand in the country (and many international) had a comic book rack. Today comics are largely sold in a couple of thousand comic specialty shops and over the internet. During the Second World War almost 40% of all printed material shipped to the military was COMIC BOOKS. It was a period of popularity in the hobby that has never again been approached. It was a BOOM.

DC, Timely and Fawcett along with the 45-50 other publishers of the time would produce nearly 700 titles during the Golden Age.

And there was Fiction House.

Fiction House was a Comic Book publisher that began life in the 1920,s with a line of Pulp Magazines. Their early publications focused primarily on Aviation and Sports. Fight Stories was a particularly popular title during the 1920’s and focused primarily on boxing. Over time Fiction expanded their pulp line into other genres such as Westerns, Romance, Detective and Science Fiction. The covers often featured GGA (Good Girl Art) with leggy scantily clad females often having nothing to do with the stories therein.
By the late 30’s the Pulp market was starting to decline due to the rising popularity of the infant comic book industry in the wake of such characters as Superman and Batman. Fiction House made the decision to add a line of comic books to their offerings and released Jumbo Comics #1 in September of 1938. Jumbo Comics was not an in house creation. In fact the company purchased it whole from Eisner & Eiger. They were “packagers” of comic books and would sell fully finished product to publishers looking to enter the comic book field.

Jumbo Comics would feature the character that would become the centerpiece of Fiction House, Sheena Queen Of The Jungle. Sheena was created by Will Eisner of Spirit Fame and S.M. Iger. She would go on to become the very first female character to carry her own title, preceding Wonder Woman by several months. Sheena would also embody a central feature of Fiction House offerings….Good Girl Art. Good girl art does not refer to the character of the girl. In fact often the girls were NOT so good. Good Girl Art (GGA) is an artistic pinup style that features beautiful, often leggy women clothed in as little as possible.

However, Fiction House did not usually feature these women as “damsels in distress’. On the contrary Fiction House heroines were tough as nails, guns a blazing CAPABLE women who did not need the men to save them. Considering the time and the way women were generally used by other publishers, Fiction House was remarkable far sighted.

Fiction House had several big selling titles that they called their “Big 6”. They were Jumbo Comics, Wings Comics, Planet Comics, Fight Comics, Jungle Comics and Rangers Comics.

In addition F.H. had a wide range of secondary titles. Among these were Firehair, Ghost, Man O’Mars and Ka’a’nga Jungle King.
Fiction House was remarkable in another area. Their practice of non discrimination. In a era when comic books and business in general was all boys and all white, F.H. employed men of color and women. Matt baker, or maybe I should say (THE GREAT Matt Baker) who is best remembered for his iconic Phantom Lady (Fox Pub.) was a featured cover artist . Baker, who passed away from a heart attack at the young age of 39 was inducted into the Comic Artist’s Hall Of Fame in 2009.

In addition female artists such as Ruth Atkinson, Fran Hopper, Lily Renee and Marcia Snyder were major contributors in the Fiction House Bullpen.

Fiction House would ultimately fall victim to a shrinking post war comic book market and the attacks of Frederick Wertham (Seduction Of The Innocent) who castigated the company for it’s depiction of sexy females. Their last titles would be distributed sometime late 1954 or early 1955 and the company quietly went out of business.

Today Fiction House titles in high grades, particularly Planet Comics, are particularly sought after by comic collectors. Sheena Queen Of The Jungle is an enduring character still seen today .

The legacy of Fiction House as a producer of high quality comic books endures.

That’s 30!

Mitch

Batman Odyssey....Yes Virginia, it's ISHTAR Bad!

2012-04-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard the expression “it’s Ishtar bad”?
Ishtar was a movie made in 1987 with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty. It was SO bad that all things bad now have to live up to the legacy of this film. Hence the term “it’s Ishtar bad”
Frankly I never thought I’d ever see anything that was actually Ishtar bad. Believe me I have searched for it. From the High Sierra to the shores of Tripoli…from Podunk to The Sands…but no…nothing Ishtar bad.

One More Day? Close but no cigar

The last three Star War Movies…ohhhh SO close to Ishtar bad. Rotten yes, but not quite THAT rotten.

Note even Aquaman The game was Ishtar bad!

Needless to say, Ishtar was pretty bad.

But now my search for the comics version of Ishtar has borne fruit. I can give a name to a comic that is truly Ishtar bad and it’s name is…
(Dramatic music cue please!)

Batman Odyssey.

Let me just sum Batman Odyssey in one word….ummmm…YUCK.

Batman working with Caveman Batman on a prehistoric BAT?

Really? REALLY??!!

This sort of thing nearly caused batman to be cancelled back in 1964! During the 1950’s and early 60’s DC decided to take batman from the streets of Gotham and into high fantasy along with some really bad Sci-fi. It got so silly that we actually saw Batman battle a living BARN in his whirlybat , Batman on far off worlds and even (yes) Batbaby!

At the very least those Batman yarns from the halcyon days of Yore were written well enough to allow you to follow the story, which may NOT have been a kindness. Odyssey on the other hand is completely incomprehensible and may actually be the single most amateur attempt at the written word since the pilot episode of “My Mother The Car”.

The characters are well…out of character. Scenes jump from one to the other with no logic. The dialogue is not only bad but does not fit into the mouths of the characters, most especially Batman’s. Of course the character has been written SO far from his core that I can’t even be sure he IS Batman.

But Ishtar bad? Surely other books have been this bad (can anyone say All Star Batman and Robin?)

Yes. And this is why. In order to be Ishtar bad the item, in this case a comic, must be created by an individual or individuals with nearly unparalleled talent. I mean Hoffman and Beatty. How much talent is THAT??
Well Neal Adams is the Hoffman, the Brando, the SINATRA of comic book artists. If Picasso was a comic artist he’d go to Neal for lessons. If Neal was a boxer, he’d have whipped Ali! That’s how great Adams is.

And to be sure his pencils REMAIN the standard. The art on this book is wonderful. Adams still draws the definitive Batman…and a pretty sexy Talia as well. The art ALONE is reason enough to buy the book.

And I do recommend that you buy the book JUST for the artwork.
However, Adams has clearly lost touch with a character that he helped to define back in the 1970’s. It was Adams as much as anyone who returned Batman to his roots as the Dark Knight. He was instrumental, through his realistic style, for removing the high fantasy from batman. He made the Bat compelling again.

In fact Adams has taken Batman SO far from his roots that I have to wonder if he isn’t doing it deliberately. Is he making a statement here? Maybe a satire? If so, he’s missed the mark and I for one don’t get it.
Still, gotta LOVE those pencils…so BUY it.

But if you are actually planning to READ it here is my advice. Take an aspirin or three because you WILL get a headache because it really is…
Ishtar bad

Oh and the thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ownership, staff or pizza delivery guy of Comic Book Jones. So if you absolutely LOVE Batman Odyssey this review is all ME.

That’s 30!

Mitch

Here's Lookin' At You Kid

2012-03-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Comic fans LOVE the anti-hero. The world weary cynic who has no illusions that everything is going to come up sunshine and roses holds a special place in our imagination and our hearts. Batman, Wolverine, The Punisher, Namor…and on and on. Jack Bauer would just be NO fun if he didn’t have his dark side. These characters are all deeply flawed, some even manic depressive. But in the end, they do the right thing (if not always in the right way).

All great anti-heroes. But…

Bogie was the first (and still the greatest) of them all.
In a Hollywood era replete with square jawed heroes like Duke Wayne, Gary Cooper and Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart was Jack Bauer, Batman, Dirty Harry and Rorsach all rolled into one. (the latter stole both Bogies trench coat and hat by the way!)

Bogie invented the anti-hero in film. Prior to Bogart the good guys were good and the bad guys were bad. No moral ambiguity. Of course this sort of character HAD existed in literature but Bogie gave it a face.
And what a face it was. Ugly in way that women loved. Craggy, weather beaten and sad. The face of Bogart was like no other.

The process that lead Bogart to creating his unique persona took place over more than a decade beginning with his turn as Duke Mantee (a Dillinger analog) in The Petrified Forest 1936, through the 1940, The Maltese Falcon (As Sam Spade) 1941, and culminating his role of Dix Steele in the classic “In A Lonely Place” 1950. But Bogart crystallized his anti-hero persona in 1942 with the release of Casablanca.

Casablanca turned 70 years old on March 21st. It remains in the minds of most film historians one of the top three greatest American sound films. The film was the culmination of several fortuitous events. An unforgettable cast lead by Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, supported by Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Paul Henried. A wonderful, if written on the fly script. And a moment in history. In short Casablanca could not have been released at a better time, just at the very beginning of WWII, this film was TIMELY.

Yet the romance was timeless. The drama of people caught up in the sweep of history and personal passion has kept Casablanca as fresh today as it was in 1942. I have personally seen this film over 75 times in every possible venue and it NEVER gets old or dull.
For the two or three of you who may never have seen the film, well I envy you because you will get to see it for the first time. And next Tuesday would be the PERFECT time because a new restoration on Bluray and DVD is about to be released. The film has been restored on a frame by frame basis and looks like what it is…a work of art.

If you like Anti-heroes. If you like Bogie. Or if you just want to see one of the greatest movies ever made, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. I have the film on VHS, DVD, HD and earlier BluRay. My best friend even has a 16mm film print! But I am going to run out to buy this new release.
So make up some popcorn, turn down the lights, watch and transport yourself to the drama, romance and passion of…Casablanca

That’s 30!

Mitch

The Greatest Trek

2012-03-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

“A question. Since before your sun burned hot in space, and before your race was born, I have awaited…a question.” – The Guardian of Forever
“One day soon, man is going to be able to harness incredible energies, maybe even the atom... energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds in... in some sort of spaceship. And the men that reach out into space will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world and to cure their diseases. They will be able to find a way to give each man hope and a common future. And those are the days worth living for.” – Edith Keeler
“Save her. Do what your heart tells you to do, and millions will die who did not die before” – Spock
One can make the case that not only was “The City On The Edge Of Forever” the finest Star Trek episode ever but that it is also one of the best episodes of any television show ever, period, exclamation point!
Star trek was largely through it’s first full season on April 6th, 1967 when “City” first aired. It was when I fell in love with the show and characters. More than any other episode, “City” defined the essential relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. A relationship that in turn would define Star Trek.
“The City On The Edge Of Forever” was penned by Sci-fi great Harlan Ellison and edited by Gene Coon, D.C. Fontana, and Gene Roddenberry among others. This re-writing lead to much controversy and carping on the part of Ellison, but even he would be hard pressed to say that this was not a classic screenplay. The plotline, largely Ellison’s was GREAT sci-fi and still one of the best treatments of time travel and the consequences involved in changing history. It was Roddenberry, Coon and Fontana who added the character touches that made it “Star Trek”.
For the one or two of you who have not actually SEEN “City”, here is a brief plot summary
The Enterprise is in the process of investigating temporal disturbances that take the form of destructive waves in space time centered on a nearby planet. Mr. Sulu is injured when a console explodes when the ship hits an unexpected temporal wave. McCoy is summoned to the bridge and injestc the helmsman with cordrazine. When another temporal wave causes the ship to shake violently McCoy accidentally injects himself with an overdose of serum, causing him to become violently paranoid. He flees from the bridge and beams down to the planet. Kirk takes a landing party down to the planet to retrieve the Doctor.
Once on the planet, Spock finds that the source of the time distortions is an ancient stone structure When Kirk asks a question to no one in particular the structure comes to life, identifying itself as the "Guardian of Forever". It explains that it is a sentient time portal that can access any point in timespace, and displays periods of Earth's history in its portal opening. The team soon locates McCoy, but he runs away and leaps through the portal before anyone can stop him. Suddenly the landing party loses contact with the Enterprise. The Guardian informs the landing party that history has just been altered and that, as a result, the Enterprise no longer exists. McCoy has somehow altered the past.
Kirk asks the Guardian to loop the history images again and he and Spock to jump through to a time just before McCoy entered, in the hope that they can correct what he has changed. Kirk and Spock leap through at the correct moment and materialize in New York City during the 1930s Great Depression era. Their uniforms and Spock's ears shock a passerby, so Kirk steals some clothes he spots hanging on a fire escape and the two hide in the basement of a nearby building. There they meet a woman named Edith Keeler. She is a social worker who runs the 21st Street Mission. They apologize for trespassing and offer to work for her. Intrigued by the pair, she allows them to stay.
Spock begins to construct a crude interface for his Tricorder and uses it to find out what part of history McCoy has altered.
Touched by her world view, Kirk soon begins to fall in love with Edith.
McCoy materializes in an alley, still under the influence of the cordrazine, and, after an encounter with a homeless man, stumbles into the 21st Street Mission. Edith sees him and takes him to rest. Kirk and Spock are not aware of his arrival.
Meanwhile, Spock finally finishes the interface and he and Kirk analyze the data. It reveals that Edith was supposed to have died shortly after in a traffic accident but that, having been spared this fate on account of McCoy's actions, she instead went on to form a pacifist movement whose influence delayed the entry of the United States into World War II; this delay in turn gave Nazi Germany time finish their heavy water experiments and develop the Atomic Bomb before the United States. The world falls to the forces of Hitlerism and ultimately tears itself apart trying to throw off Nazi rule. Kirk must face the fact that if Edith does not die as she is supposed to, history will be altered forever. Starfleet, Spock, McCoy…everything that he knows will cease to exist.
Meanwhile, Edith nurses McCoy, who tells her who he is and where he is from. Edith does not believe his fantastic, but tells him that he would fit in nicely with her eccentric new boyfriend who will later be taking her to a Clark Gable movie. She is surprised to find that Bones has never heard of the star.
Later, as Kirk and Edith are walking to the movie house, Edith is surprised that Kirk also never heard of Clark Gable . She says "Doctor McCoy" said the same thing.
“McCoy? LEONARD McCoy??”
Alarmed, Kirk emphatically tells Edith to "Stay right here" before dashing across the street to get Spock. McCoy emerges from the mission right in front of them. Edith crosses the street to join them, does not see a truck which is approaching. Instinctively, Kirk moves to pull Edith out of the way but freezes when Spock yells out.
"No, Jim!". McCoy then tries to save Edith but is held fast by Kirk; the truck hits her and she is killed. A shocked McCoy yells.
"I could have saved her...do you know what you just did?". Kirk pushes him away, speechless, and Spock says quietly,

"He knows, Doctor. He knows."

History reverts to its original timeline and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return to the Guardian's planet to find the rest of the landing party where they had left them. The Guardian makes an offer.

"Time has resumed its shape. All is as it was before. Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."

Uhura indicates that the Enterprise is ready to beam them back up and the devastated Kirk responds.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

I get a lump in my throat just writing the summary! I have seen this episode dozens of times over the year and it never loses it’s power. It is as fresh today as it was over 40 years ago. “City” is still the benchmark for Star trek and “the origin” of the Kirk-Spock-McCoy relationship. Even the recent reboot acknowledges that these three, and particularly the relationship between Kirk and Spock are the HEART of Star Trek.
When Spock asks Edith where she thinks he and Kirk belong she actually defines their friendship in one simple statement:

“[to Spock] You? At his side. As if you've always been there and always will.

[to Kirk] And you... you belong... in another place. I don't know where or how... I'll figure it out eventually.”- Edith Keeler

Back at the beginning of the episode Kirk does not send someone else after McCoy. He and Spock , without hesitation, take that mission upon themselves. They don’t think twice about being lost in time if it gives them even the smallest chance of saving their friend.

In “city” we really get out first glimpse of Spock’s “human” side. And it is almost all in the form of empathy for Kirk’s dilemma.

“Save her. Do what your heart tells you to do, and millions will die who did not die before” – Spock

How do you tell your brother that he has to sacrifice that which he loves most? The “Vulcan” Spock might not be able to do it. The “Human” Spock might not be able to do it. But SPOCK, both human and Vulcan, found a way.
When he makes the statement to Jim that “Edith Keeler must die” we can see how much Spock feels for his friend. This was a defining moment in the development of Star Trek’s most beloved character.
It is a direct line from this episode to Star Trek II- The Wrath Of Khan when Kirk observes that:
“Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most…human”
We would not have had that moment in Star Trek II without “City”. The complete understanding between Kirk and Spock was born in this episode.
This is also a defining moment for Kirk as well. Perhaps it is THE defining moment in the development of the character.

We learn that Jim is not just the hell bent for leather, womanizing adventurer that he sometimes leads us to believe. Edith is in fact his one true love and he has the briefest of time with her. Now he has to face all the rest of his life without her. “City” shows us just how LONELY Kirk is.
We also learn that, as McCoy put it in the third season episode “The Tholian Web”, Jim Kirk is “ a hero in every sense of the word”. The ability to make the sacrifice he did in order to restore history took more courage than facing down a Gorn or a Klingon warship. Despite his personal anguish, when the moment came, he did not hesitate. Kirk made the impossible choice and went on with living with the consequences.

For those of you who have never seen “City”, go see it now. For those who have, give it another view. Because Star Trek REALLY began in…
“The City On The Edge Of Forever”

That’s 30!

(Oh and Live Long And Prosper!)

Mitch

Shat Happens!

2012-03-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

There are three absolutely unbreakable rules in this universe.

Nothing can exceed the speed of light.

A body in motion will continue in motion unless acted on by an outside force….

And

Shat Happens

For those of you who have spent the last 45 years in the negative Zone, Bill Shatner , sometimes Captain of the Enterprise, Priceline Spokesman and Emmy Award winning nut job lawyer Denny Crane recently had a limited run in a one man show on (music cue)

BROOOOOOOOOAAAAAADDDDDWAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!

I had the opportunity to see “Shatner’s World (we just live in it)” last Thursday night at The Music Box Theater. Now I freely admit that I am not capable of being unbiased when it comes to Bill Shatner

(O Captain! My Captain!)

BUT the man should be declared a national treasure or landmark or preserved for all time in Carbonite!

What you got for your money was a little over an hour and a half with one of the best story tellers you will ever find. Shatner took us through a high energy tour of his life from his childhood in Canada, through his career highlights and the time he barely escaped becoming the boy toy of Koko The Gorilla.

Koko The Gorilla! I kid you not! You could look it up. She must have been a Trekkie.

The 80 something actor even pokes fun at DEATH more than once, with that Captain Kirk twinkle in his eyes.

Through the clever and conservative use of film clips and photos projected onto a large globe that dominates the back of the stage we get to see Shatner at various, funny, sad and often heartwarming points of his life.
For those of you who think of bill ONLY in relation to Star Trek, you might be surprised to know that he spends relatively little time on that part of his life. He does not blow by it by any stretch, but he keeps it in context.
Instead Shatner talks about the relationships in his life. From his friendship with Christopher Plummer and Patrick Stewart, his VERY odd relationship with George “Helllloooooooo” Takei, his dad, wives and children, a cross the border Rabbi transport…and animals.

Yes Animals. Some of the most honest moments of the evening come when Shatner talks about his horses, his dogs, and of course Koko!

It’s a great evening and Shatner is the recipient of genuine affection from the audience. He seems more like an old friend and less like a “Star”. Bill makes it look so easy.

And that is the rub. Because what Shatner does in this show is the MOST difficult challenge for any actor. Bill’s show is the ESSENCE of theater and the actor’s craft.

Actor

Words

Audience

There are no fancy sets to distract. No other actors to watch (unless you count the rolling desk chair he uses as a foil throughout the piece). No fancy costumes, music, lighting….or even a plot.

It’s just Shatner, stories and you.

A one man show can so easily be a disaster because the actor cannot lose the audience for even a moment. Lose them for a second and you WON’T get them back.

That is why stand up comedy is so hard. You are NAKED out there with only your talent as a shield. In the hands of a lesser performer this could have been theater purgatory. With Shatner it is a CELEBRATION.

O Captain! My Captain! You’ve done it again!

It is indeed Shatner’s World. And I for one am happy to live in it.

That’s 30!

Mitch

Buffy - Season Nine!

2012-02-22T19:42:00.000-08:00

Whenever I get the opportunity to write about Buffy The Vampire Slayer I know I’m having a good day. As is no secret around these parts I am a huge fan of all things “BTVS” . If they could just integrate her into DC Universe Online I might never be heard from again! Well I have to admit that things have been quiet on the Buffy front for some time. The “Season 8” run of comics was entertaining but, with it’s emphasis on space ships, super powers and time travel, it just wasn’t …Buffy.

What sets BTVS apart from the likes of twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood is that it is NOT Gossip Girls with monsters. Buffy has always been about the arc of a young woman’s life. We started out meeting Buffy as a 16 year old high school student just coming to terms with her mission as THE Slayer while trying desperately to have a normal life with friends and relationships. During the course of the TV series we watcher grow into her early 20’s and become a powerful leader. Along the way she gained and lost things that had a lasting impact on her life.

The most wrenching loss was her mother’s death. On a show, in a genre, where death is hardly a permanent state of affairs we were slapped in the face with just how final death really is. Joyce Summers did not die from a Vampire attack or being eaten by a demon. She died from a brain aneurism. Here one moment, gone the next. She left Buffy, barely out of childhood herself, to raise her sister while still having to live up to her everyday responsibilities for saving the world. Except for the saving the world part, this is an all too common state of affairs in the real world.
This is Buffy at it’s best. An allegory for real life.

I am happy to report that Buffy has returned to her roots in “Season 9”, issue #6

Buffy is pregnant.

Buffy has decided to have an abortion.

These are serious issues in the real world and, Vampires notwithstanding, this conflict drives the narrative and will throughout “Season 9”. In issue #6 Buffy faces the fact of her pregnancy and seeks out the advice of her friends on what to do. A part of her very much wants to have this child. But how will being the child of The Slayer even work? Of course she asks the son of an actual Slayer, Robin (Principal) Woods, whose mom was Nikki Woods, a Slayer killed by Spike in New York in the late 70’s. He believes that Buffy would make a great parent despite the fact of her calling. He believes that, while HIS mother ultimately failed as a parent, Buffy will succeed. So we hear that side of the argument.

However, like many young women in the same situation, Buffy just is not ready to be a parent. So she decides to have an abortion and goes to Spike for support. Being her friend and sometimes paramour, Spike agrees to be there for her. Complicated? Yup. Not very vampire oriented.

THAT is what makes this a relevant character and universe. Like Star Trek, Buffy is less about the villain of the week than it is about ideas and people. It’s about making choices when there are NO right answers. I the original Star trek episode “A Private Little War” Kirk makes the morally ambiguous decision to arm a peaceful group of “hill people” because the Klingons have armed the “towns people” who are threatening to wipe out the entire civilization. Kirk plays a balance of power game that preserves both sides. It is the same moral dilemma that the United States was facing at the time in Viet Nam.

There was no right answer for Kirk.

There is no right answer for Buffy.

That makes great drama and compelling storytelling.

Welcome back Buffy. I missed you.

That’s 30!

Mitch

Coldfire's Laws

2012-02-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

Some Random Comic Book Observations

My last few columns have been of the more hard core collecting nature. So this week I thought I’d just jot down some observations I have as a comic book reader. Or as I like to refer to them, Coldfire’s Laws:
Coldfire’s Law #1:

Superheroes never need to use the toilet during a fight. (or any other time now that I think of it) This may be their greatest superpower as the rest of us almost always have to pull over during long drives.

Coldfire’s Law #2

If you live in close proximity (or even on the same planet) to a Superhero, you really need to take out insurance against property damage. Don’t these guys ever take it “outside”?

Coldfire’s Law #3

Spandex looks a WHOLE lot better on Superheroes than fans. Just go to any ComicCon if you don’t believe me.

Coldfire’s Law #4

In any fight between ANY two characters, Batman wins because well… he’s the G*D D***ED Batman! Sorry Wolverine fans, live with it.

Coldfire’s Law #5

Women in comics defy gravity in more ways than one.

Coldfire’s Law #6

Aquaman gets no respect. He is the Rodney Dangerfield of superheroes.

Coldfire’s Law #7

If you collect comics long enough you WILL run out of living space. Be prepared to displace your family at a moment’s notice in order to keep your collection intact. Kicking your loved ones to the street IS cruel but would you REALLY rather get rid of your entire run of Walking Dead? Nuff said.

Coldfire’s Law #8

The citizens of Metropolis are stupid on a GALACTIC scale. How else can you explain the fact that no one has ever noticed that Clark Kent and Superman are the only men in the city with blue hair? (There are a few 70+ little old ladies and high school COS players sporting blue hair but they don’t count)

Coldfire’s Law #9

Spiderman, Batman, Daredevil and any other hero or villain who SWINGS at the end of any sort of line MUST be using a helicopter service. What else could they POSSIBLY be swinging from??

Coldfire’s Law #10

The Green Lantern Corps is the coolest Superhero Group because they have an actual BAR on OA. You never see the JLA or Avengers tossing a few back at the Galactus Bar And Grill.

Coldfire’s Law #11

“It’s Clobberin Time!” and “SNIKT!”… Timeless

“Avengers Assemble” and “Imperious Rex”…MEH… I mean seriously “Imperious Rex?” what does that even mean!?!? And how intimidating is “Assemble”? Might as well be “Avengers Mill About” or “Avengers Mingle”…sigh

And…

That’s 30!

Mitch

The Prices HAVE gone up you know!

2012-02-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I decided to archive some of my 20,000 comic books so that my wife would continue to allow me to live in the house…or actually live PERIOD! This process involved identifying books that I could pack away because they are a) from discontinued series or b) crap. I segregated the books from the active population of books, put them in new comic boxes which I then shrink wrapped and stacked neatly on a pallet in the corner of my basement. Said stack reaching nearly to the ceiling. This left me with six boxes of ‘active” comics that I would need for filing purposes as new issues were released. Nice and organized.

However, as any hard core collector will tell you, when you undertake this sort of activity you also spend a lot of time “rummaging” . So I spent as much time flipping through my collection as I did actually ding any work. During my rummaging rampage I came across a copy of the Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide from 1990-1991 (#20) . I began to flip through the book and here are some of the prices of key books as they were some 20 years ago:

Superman 1 $ 26,000.00
Batman 1 $ 14,500.00
Detective 27 $ 32,500.00
Amazing Spiderman 1 $ 2,750.00
Fantastic Four 1 $ 2,650.00
Archie 1 $ 2,000.00
Action 1 $ 32,500.00
Action 252 $ 360.00
X-Men 1 $ 990.00
TOS (1st Iron Man) 39 $ 875.00

Then just for kicks I reached across and grabbed a copy of the 39th edition from roughly 20 years later (We are now on Edition #41 but #39 was closer to a flat 20 years, though not exact). Here is what I found.

Superman 1 $ 440,000.00
Batman 1 $ 215,000.00
Detective 27 $ 1,500,000.00
Amazing Spiderman 1 $ 44,000.00
Fantastic Four 1 $ 52,000.00
Archie 1 $ 38,000.00
Action 1 $ 2,160,000.00
Action 252 $ 4,500.00
X-Men 1 $ 22,000.00
TOS (1st Iron Man) 39 $ 15,000.00

Bear in mind that the more current prices on Action #1 and Detective #27 reflect recent auctions. Again not EXACT numbers but pretty close.
Now check out the percentage jumps over 20 years:

Superman 1 $ 26,000.00 $ 440,000.00 1692%
Batman 1 $ 14,500.00 $ 215,000.00 1483%
Detective 27 $ 32,500.00 $ 1,500,000.00 4615%
Amazing Spiderman 1 $ 2,750.00 $ 44,000.00 1600%
Fantastic Four 1 $ 2,650.00 $ 52,000.00 1962%
Archie 1 $ 2,000.00 $ 38,000.00 1900%
Action 1 $ 32,500.00 $ 2,160,000.00 6646%
Action 252 $ 360.00 $ 4,500.00 1250%
X-Men 1 $ 990.00 $ 22,000.00 2222%
TOS (1st Iron Man) 39 $ 875.00 $ 15,000.00 1714%

Every one of these books jumped over ONE THOUSAND PERCENT in two decades. HUGE!

Does this mean that your beloved books will jump in value a thousand fold over the next 20 years? A thousand times NOT LIKELY! These were KEY books in iconic titles. In many cases these books were UNDER priced in 1990.
So what happened?

In short, the internet happened. With the proliferation of online auction sites (not just Ebay) dedicated to our hobby, these books became more available to a wider audience of prospective buyers. These auctions naturally created competition for key books and hence the price jumps. In fact the more recent prices in the tables above have actually gone UP over the past couple of years. In the case of books like Action #1 and Detective #27, every time they come to auction the values spike up even higher. And they are not the only books to see this trend. Recent auctions of Tales Of Suspense #39, Archie Comics #1 and the rest of the list have ALL seen multiples of guide value at auction.

So what else happened?

CGC happened. With the advent of professional grading services that have created an “impartial” grading system, high grade examples of these books IN CGC SLABS have resulted in huge price increases over similar grade “raw” unslabbed books.

What does this mean to the collector who wants to engage in long term investment?

You need money to MAKE money. You have a very good shot at making money over time provided you have the large amount of cash needed to actually BUY a copy of Amazing Spiderman in decent grade. Unfortunately not many of us has 40K to pony up for an old Spidey comic.

You COULD speculate on a book or books that you believe will increase over time. This has the advantage of being cheaper. But speculation is highly…speculative and you are more likely to see your comics DROP in value over time. In fact MOST comics either stay “flat” or decrease in value.

Still want to invest. Well I warned you! BUT if you must your best chance to make money is by watching and recognizing trends. Knowledge is very definitely power. Scour the auction sites and watch which books are gaining in value but still in your range. (Bronze Age books are currently enjoying a nice bump along with continued growth in Silver Age. Golden Age is SO expensive that a lot of those books are flattening out). Keep track of your own investment in terms of dollars and the SECOND you see a flattening or downward trend it is time to sell. You probably won’t realize PEAK profits but you should at least get out breaking even or even making a little.
REMEMBER you do NOT have the inside information that hard core dealers do so you are going to be a lot more reactive than they are.

Do SELL books you want to dump when that character is being featured in an upcoming or hit motion picture. The prices peak nicely as the film gets closer to release.

Do not BUY that character currently being featured in a hit movie. The price WILL drop again. (See WATCHMAN.)

Also stay away from any long term investment in MODERN AGE books. If you must speculate in them, SELL FAST. The values WILL drop quickly after a spike. Don’t believe me/ try selling that New 52 Sketch variant of Justice League #1 that was going for $250 a few months ago and see what your return is.

Speculating CAN be fun and even a little profitable. I do it myself! But I treat it kind of like a trip to Atlantic City or buying a scratch off. I never gamble with money I can’t afford to lose. So if I DO lose on a comic investment I still had fun playing the game.

Of course I have more fun…rummaging through my comics.

That’s 30!

Mitch

MARLON BRANDO RETIREMENT CEREMONY AND NEW $5 & $10 COUPON INAUGURATION!

2012-01-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

His time was well served but there comes a time when one must step down. Marlon Brando, who once appeared on our $5 coupon and currently graces our $10 coupon will be officially retired on Friday, January 27th. We will raise his banner to the rafters and usher in a new celebrity. Who will it be!? It's one of the most guarded secrets of the store and everyone always has their say but there can only be one! So, join us on Friday, January 27th @ 9pm after regular store hours for some food, drinks and a special sale to commemorate the occasion. Be the first to see the Marlon Brando and the new $5 & $10 coupons! Everyone in attendance will be the first to receive the new $5 coupon with any purchase!

The Quest!

2012-01-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

I have been using the internet since well before the advent of web browsers, Google, Facebook or Hulu. I go back to the days when you had to drop your telephone into a special cradle in order to log on to various internet bulletin boards where you could do…not much actually. It was more the idea of being there than what you could do that drove a lot of first generation geeks to dip their toes into the antediluvian mire that was the internet. So you would think I’d be a little jaded by the experience of going online.

But no! I am still blown away by the sheer volume of …STUFF out there.
Case in point. During a slow moment today I casually entered “Stamp Day For Superman” into Google. This little known, little seen, never aired episode of “The Adventures of Superman” was made in 1954 for the US Department of Treasury to promote the sale of US Saving Stamps and was shown to grad school students during assembly (an ancient ritual where young students were herded into a large meeting place to be bored into a comatose like state. This function has since been replaced by Pokemon and Barney as well as the Twilight series).

But I digress!

Stamp Day For Superman is the perfect illustration of how so many things are easily available today. I got 170,000 hits! Including multiple links to this public domain video.
Now strap into your Legion Of Superhero Time Bubbles (US. Pat. Pending) and follow me into the mists of time as we travel back to

1977…1977…1977…1977……

(by the way, why does time have to be so…Misty? All that mist leaves a film on the Time Bubble!)

But I digress yet again!

Disco was king! Reggie Bars rotted our teeth! Hair was big! And skirts were (ugh!) long! Farrah was the female ideal and Ali was (still) The Greatest.
In other words perhaps the dullest decade….well…ever.

BUT, we didn’t have the internet as you younguns know it. Stamp Day For Superman had not been seen since the 1950’s and all that Superman fans like myself knew about it was that this was a “lost” episode of our beloved George Reeves portraying the Man of Steel! It became the “holy grail” of Superman episodes. I would track down leads in fanzines that promised grainy super 8 prints. I would go to Comic shows scouring dealers tables for a copy. I KNEW it existed. So did dealers. But no one had ever actually SEEN it! I even contacted schools to see if they had old prints in some janitor’s closet that had not been opened since the Eisenhower administration.

BUPKIS! NADA!! ZIPPO!!! I had an easier time getting DATES than finding that $%#@# superman episode.

And THAT was the fun of it! The hunt! The Quest! I was NOT easy to find and so getting it was an end in itself.

When I FINALLY tracked down a copy two years after my quest begun I was ecstatic! I held it in my hands. A single Super 8 reel of film in a yellowing envelope. It cost me maybe $50. Which was not cheap in 1979. But I didn’t care. Stamp Day for Superman! I don’t believe it!!!
And…it….was….MINE!

And…it…SUCKED!!! (well not really. It was just this 18 minute commercial for US Saving Stamps and geared to 8 year olds but George was his Super self!)

But it didn’t matter. I had seen my quest to the end and emerged victorious!
Not fast forward to…today. Google search. BOOM. Watching it on my desk top.
Convenient. I would not trade this accessibility for anything…

But sometimes I still miss the hunt.

That’s 30!

Mitch

The Almost End Of Batman

2012-01-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

Even the most loyal advocates of the Last Son Of Krypton (ie: SUPERMAN!), are forced to admit that it is Batman who is clearly DC’s most popular and visible character. (Sorry GL but that’s the way it is!). However, it may surprise you to learn that this was not always so. In fact there was a time that DC seriously considered canceling Batman and Detective altogether.

Batman’s early characterization as a creature of the night, a dark avenger had already been eroded by the introduction of Robin The Boy Wonder in Detective Comics #38 (1940).

It was thought that Batman needed something to make him more accessible to children (the core audience of comics at the time) and also give the writers someone that batman could talk to. In short order the covers depicting a grim and frightening Batman were replaced by a cheerful and swashbuckling character who more resembled Douglas Fairbanks’ Zorro than the Dark Knight. This was a radical departure from the core of the character but, despite this change, Batman remained extremely popular during the war years (1941-1945).

Batman would see his popularity erode in part as a result of the overall waning interest in Superhero characters after WWII. However he was almost destroyed by an enemy more dangerous than The Joker…Dr. Fredric Wertham.
Batman comics were among those criticized when the comic book industry came under scrutiny with the publication of psychologist Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954. Wertham suggested that Batman comics contained homosexual overtones and argued that Batman and Robin were portrayed as lovers. (it is hard to believe in these more enlightened times when Batwoman, a proud gay woman stars in her own popular book, that homosexuality was seen as a threat!)

Before

Wertham's criticisms raised a public outcry during the 1950s. DC’s response was to create a light hearted fantasy based Batman in the postwar years intensified after the introduction of the Comics Code. Batwoman (in 1956) and the Bat-Girl (in 1961) were introduced in part to refute the allegation that Batman and Robin were gay. Add Batmite, Ace the Bathound (I kid you not!), Vicky Vale and the stories were more of a copy of “The Superman Family” which had revitalized DC’s other franchise character. Batman spent more time in Sci-fi adventures than in Gotham. Obviously this break with the core character did not have the desired result and his popularity continued to decline.

By 1964 Batman had hit his low point and DC was left with a choice bring Batman up to date with the rest of the line or cancel the books entirely.
Editor Julius Schwartz was assigned to the Batman titles. He presided over drastic changes, beginning with 1964's Detective Comics #327 (May 1964), which was cover-billed as the "New Look". Schwartz introduced changes designed to make Batman more contemporary, and to return him to more detective-oriented stories. He brought in artist Carmine Infantino to help overhaul the character. The Batmobile was redesigned, and Batman's costume was modified to incorporate a yellow ellipse behind the bat-insignia. The space aliens and characters of the 1950s were set aside. Batman's butler Alfred was killed off and a new female relative for the Wayne family, Aunt Harriet, came to live with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

and after

This new sleeker Batman, more grounded in a “real” world along with the runaway success of the Batman TV series gave Batman a short term spike in popularity which saw circulation of Batman and Detective peak at 900,000 copies a month. Once the Batcraze of the 1960’s subsided, so did the sales of the books. However Swartz and Infantino laid the groundwork that would lead to a gradual move back to the core “Dark Knight” of the 1940’s that began with the wok of Neal Adams and Denny O’Neil, through Marshal Rogers and Steve Engelhart in the 1970’s. Batman was returning to his roots...but...

Sales would continue to decline until a young Frank Miller dropped a bombshell on the comic book world. The Dark Knight Returns (1986) catapulted Batman into a popularity he has never relinquished. This portrayal of a 50 year old retired Batman in a dystopian Gotham City completed the full circle journey of the character back to his 1939 genesis. Miller would later re-imagine Batman’s origins along with David Mazzuchelli in Batman year One (Batman 404-407) and Brian Bolland along with Alan Moore would cement the slightly skewed reality of the character with 1988’s “The Killing Joke”.

These works would form the foundation of the modern Batman’s character and the world in which he moves. But those works might never have come to be if not for the efforts of Swartz and Infantino and the “New Look” Batman.

That’s 30!

Mitch

Proto-Comics and The Platinum Age

2012-01-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

When most comic collectors think about the “first” American comic books, they think about the “Golden Age” which began in June of 1938 with the publication of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman. In fact the development of the American comic book goes back much further than that. All the way back to 1833!

As the late, great Casey Stengel would have said…”You could look it up.”
Various publishers had been releasing collections of comic strips for some time, the earliest known being The Adventures Of Obadiah Oldbuck which appeared in New York in 1842.

The first modern and truly popular character in American comics seems to have been The Yellow Kid who never actually spoke but communicated via messages that appeared on his night shirt. “The Yellow Kid In McFadden’s Flats is likely the first proto-comic . It first saw publication in 1897. This was a collection of reprinted comic strips that had appeared as early as 1896. The practice of reprinting popular comic strips in hard and soft bound collections (many of which were comic book like in structure) would be the defacto method of creating comic books until the advent of all new material that, along with Superman would signal the beginning of the Golden Age of Comics.

The first known example of a full color comic book was a Hearst produced publication called “The Blackberries”. It appeared in 1901. However, comic book publishing was intermittent and a regular monthly title, “Comics Monthly”, would not appear until 1922. As with earlier books, “Comics Monthly” was a collection of reprinted newspaper or magazine strips.

In 1929, Dell Publishing, released “The Funnies”. This was formatted more like a Sunday Newspaper insert than a comic book, but was sold as a stand alone product. It is also the earliest known example of a comic book that included original material. “The Funnies” ran WEEKLY for 36 issues and was released on Saturday through October 1930.

By 1933, Maxwell Gaines, sales manager of Eastern Color Printing began publishing “Funnies On parade” Like “The Funnies”, “Funnies On parade” more closely resembled a Sunday Newspaper insert. Unlike “The Funnies”, Gaines’ book published reprinted material such as Mutt and Jeff, Joe Paloooka and Skippy Eastern Color did not actually sell this periodical. It was sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed ten-thousand copies for this promotion. This was so successful that Eastman produces several other promotional comics and this was, for a short time, the dominant form of comic book distribution.

Also in 1933, Eastern began publishing “Funnies On Parade: A carnival Of Comics”. This is considered to be the first “true” American comic book. It was 36 pages long. There is some dispute on whether this comic was sold or given away. However it is likely that both methods of distribution were used as copies have shown up with stickers on the cover hawking it for a dime, while other copies appear with no price tags.

“Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics”, eventually gave way to Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), a 68-page comic that sold for a dime. It was distributed to newsstands by the American News Company. News syndicates would become the major distribution arm for comics right up until the advent of the specialty comic shop and direct sales in the 1980’s. “Famous Funnies” was a hit with readers and ran for 218 issues.
When the supply of available existing comic strips began to run dry, small amounts of new, original material in comic-strip format began to appear. A comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. National Allied Publications (later known as DC) released “New Fun” #1 in February of 1935. “New Fun” mixed humor and dramatic stories between the covers of the book. It would also feature early work but such creators as Seigel and Shuster, who would later create Superman. One of their creations was a proto-superhero known as Dr. Occult.

But this was created under their pseudonyms, Leger and Reuths.

By 1938, publishers were finding it absolutely necessary to gather original material as the supply of reprints had pretty much dried up. This opened the door for a whole group of very young creators with names like Kane, Robinson, Kirby, Simon, Seigel and Shuster etc. This influx of talent and invention of the Superhero would bring the “Platinum Age” to a close and usher in “The Golden Age Of Comics”

That’s 30!

Mitch

Thanks For The Memories

2012-01-03T17:21:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! I am back (for good or ill) after a brief hiatus for the holidays. I do hope all of you had a wonderful and HEALTHY holiday season, and that Santa stuffed your stockings with all sorts of comic book goodness.

I was looking back on the last part of 2011 and two pieces of news arose that call for a moment of our time. In December lost two of the most influential comics creators in the history of the medium.
Joe Simon and Jerry Robinson.

When I say these gentlemen were two of the most influential creators in the history of comics, I am not engaging in hyperbole. These men were right there with the likes of Siegel and Shuster, Kirby and Lee, Bob Kane…any of them.

Joe Simon, passed away on 12/14 at the age of 98 from natural causes. His name is almost always spoken in conjunction with his long time partner, the King Of Comics, Jack Kirby. Together, they created one of the most iconic characters in comics history…Captain America. At a time of great uncertainty in our country and around the world Simon helped create a symbol of America that endures to this day. Most recently in a film and two monthly titles. Cap has been in print almost without exception since 1941. There was a brief hiatus but he was back in Avengers #4and has been going strong ever since.

If that was Simon’s ONLY contribution to the history of comics it would have been a great legacy. But he did so much more. As an artist, along with Kirby, Joe redefined page layout, often exploding action through panel borders creating a story telling language still being used to this day.
Joe was also the first editor of Timely Comics, which would eventually become Marvel.

A couple of years ago, I stood in line for over an hour just to meet him at NY Comic Con. I am not an autograph hunter or one given to waiting in lines, but for Joe, it was a privilege.

Joe Simon. He will be missed of course, but as long as Cap is still slinging his shield, Joe will be remembered and celebrated.

Jerry Robinson. What a sharp guy he was! I saw him speak at Comic Con in 2010 and he told some great stories. At the then age of 87, he looked in great shape and was having a ball with the fans and adulation that was so late in coming his way. For decades Jerry (along with Bill Finger) was one of the unacknowledged creators of Batman. While Bob Kane through contract and editorial policy was the credited creator of the Dark Knight, Batman was created by committee.

Jerry was instrumental in the creation of Robin The Boy Wonder and The Joker, as well as much of the Batman mythos. In recent years he received acknowledgement for his contribution and the accolades so long overdue.
Like Joe, Jerry was more than a one shot wonder. He was a prolific creator for many years. However his greatest contribution to comics was as an advocate for creator’s rights. During the mid 70’s Jerry was one of the key figures in championing the case of Siegel and Shuster in their decades long struggle with DC over their creation of Superman. Along with Neal Adams, Jerry helped win, not only financial compensation for the pair but creative credit for both Siegel and Shuster in all broadcast and published works containing the Superman character.

In 1978, he founded Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/CartoonArts International which as of 2010 has more than 550 artists from over 75 countries.

They once asked Mickey mantle how he would want to be remembered. His answer was not to be remembered so much as a great player but as a great team mate. That is how, I think, Jerry Robinson will be remembered. That is a fine legacy for anyone.
Jerry passed away on December 7th, right here on Staten Island.

Joe…Jerry. Thanks for everything. We’ll miss you both.

That’s 30.

Mitch

Four Year Anniversary!

2011-12-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

4TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND SPECTACULAR!

This is it! Our favorite event of the entire year, the celebration of another year of our existence and this year we extended the celebration to THREE DAYS! Here's the skinny: It all kicks off on Friday, December 16th where we will be joined by the fine fellows you see on the flier above. They will be here signing, sketching and talking comics so make sure you stop by and say hello! Saturday, December 17th continues the signing tradition with even more comic creators! What's better than this? Well, EVERYTHING in the store will be 25% off on both days, including all the great books you can pick up from these fabulous creators!

Finally on Sunday, December 18th we'll be bringing the party to the Full Cup on Van Duzer St to kick back, have some drinks and provide some entertainment! There will be live music and DJ stylings of Socko & Tiger Jones! It all kicks off at 9:30! Be there!

Tis The Season…for comics!

2011-12-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas really snuck up on me this year! Maybe it is the mid 50’s weather, or maybe I am still decompressing from NYCC. Whatever the case, the holidays are just around the corner! To that end I am going to share some of my very favorite Christmas themed comic covers

Pretty sweet stuff. I don’t notice as many holiday themed covers on modern books but perhaps that is just a sign of our more politically correct times. I still say “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays”…so sue me!
SO here are MY picks for comic related items that would fit nicely in any house for ANY holiday:
1) DC Comics Archive Editions/Marvel Masterworks. These handsome hard cover collections with heavy stock, high gloss pages present the key works of the big two publishers to better advantage than the originals. It is a truly affordable way to add big runs of early issues to your library.
2) Vampirella Archive Editions – The Warren Publishing group originally owned Vampirella and along with Eerie and Creepy pretty much owned the horror genre back in the 60’s and 70’s. These editions present the early Vampi issues in their original size and format with nothing missing! Not just a collection of stories these Archive Editions present each issue in their entirety. I especially like the letters pages!
3) Walking Dead Collections –Hard cover or soft cover…GET these! The BEST comic on the stands deserves a place on your book shelf! Nuff Said.
4) DC Universe Online – The MMORPG based on the characters appearing in DC Publications is now FREE TO PLAY, and that includes the game software. The game is massive. The game is colorful. The game is Fun. PLUS the Flash runs on his cosmic treadmill. What could be better than that?
5) Movies…movies….MOVIES! This was the summer of the Superhero at your local theater and now those movies are all out on Bluray! Captain America! Green Lantern! Thor! Whether you get the DVD, Bluray or digital editions, just GET ‘em!
6) Maus by Art Spiegleman. If you have to ask you really NEED this one. Perhaps the single most important graphic novel/comic in the HISTORY of our hobby. Seems like a saw a few copies of the collected edition at Comicbook Jones! I need a new copy myself!!

7) An official Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time? Maybe not but if you don’t already own it get yourself a copy of Christmas Story. It’s a classic AND Ralphie can be seen slipping a comic book with a Red Ryder sales pitch into a copy of mom’s Look magazine.

I am sure other items will occur to me as the big day draws closer. I the meantime have to slip a copy of Previews news into my wife’s backpack!!
That’s 30!

Mitch

Alvin Hollingsworth…creator

2011-11-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

I have a soft spot for creators. Musicians, Actors, Writers, Artists….whatever. They don’t even have to be particularly GOOD creators. Just the act of creating has a value that cannot be calculated and adds immeasurably to our collective self exploration. Carl Sagan once postulated that we humans are one of the organisms through which the Cosmos knows itself. If in fact we are the “eyes of the Cosmos”, creators facilitate that sight by making the colors richer, the textures fuller and the music just that much sweeter.

As a comic collector I have a special fondness for the people who give us our comics. Of course we all know about the giants from the past like Jack Kirby, Curt Swan, Bob Montana, Seigel and Shuster, Joe Simon and so many more. Today we have the likes of Ed Brubaker, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and an entire generation of creators who consistently push the medium to new heights of creativity.

I am always happy when I discover a new or forgotten creator. In this case it was the latter, His name was Alvin Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth drew comics in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He had a nice clean and very realistic style that was more along the lines of what you might have seen AFTER 1970. He often inked his own work. Alvin was definitely ahead of his times.
He worked on titles such as Wings, Rulah, Jungle Goddess, Master Comics, Witchcraft, Mysterious Comics, and Romance Comics such as Youthful Romances.

In fact after he retired from the Comic Book field, Hollingsworth became a renowned fine artist and taught as a college professor at the University of new York and Hostos Communtity College. His subjects included the civil Rights for women, Jazz, and dance among others.

Alvin left us in July of 200 at the age of 72.

Hollingsworth was African American.

I mention this because the Golden Age of comics was hardly “golden” if you were an African American. Like so many areas of American life, people of color were either excluded entirely or made use of only as a stereotype. It may be hard to believe today but it was not until 1948 that a black man was allowed to play Major League Baseball and it would be nearly another thirty years before an African American was hired to MANAGE a team in the majors.
Hell, it was not until 1968 that TV saw it’s first interracial kiss. And even then Kirk was only kissing Uhura under the command of an alien influence and doing his best to resist it! Now I don’t know about anyone else but *I* would not have to be coerced to kiss Nichelle Nichols!
In the world of comic books we did not see men and women of color as leading characters or heroes in comics until the late 60’s and early 70’s with the likes of The Black Panther, Luke Cage, The Falcon and Storm. Old prejudices die hard.

So back to the 40’s and 50’s and the world of Alvin Hollingsworth. African Americans were almost completely non-existent in comic books. When they DID appear it was in the most demeaning and stereotyped manner. Bug eyes, grotesquely large lips, and huge ears. These depictions in NO WAY resembled any person of color who ever populated this planet. Worse than that, African Americans were portrayed as lazy, superstitious and cowardly. All completely untrue and unfair stereotypes.

If that was how FICTIONAL characters were treated one can only imagine how many doors were closed to African American creators at the time. The odds were not particularly good.

But every now and then someone comes along who beats those odds. Hollingsworth was simply too talented to be denied.

And he also had the opportunity to portray African Americans as beautiful, dignified people in Fawcett’s experimental title Negro Romance.

Romance comics were coming into their own around 1950 as the Superhero wave of the Golden Age was going into decline. Fawcett’s other romance titles were selling very well and editor Roy Ald, a Caucasian editor by the way, decided to take a shot at targeting an African American audience made up largely of females! Ald had worked with Hollingsworth when the latter was a very young man and the two got along very well and became close friends. Ald actually wrote the book while Hollingsworth did the pencils. It is unknown whether or not Alvin inked this book but given the fact that he was also a capable inker it is likely that he did this as well. Hollingsworth and Ald portrayed African Americans in a far more complementary, if (you will excuse the pun) romantic, light than other comics. These were attractive, educated and desirable people. If the characters were somewhat sacirine, so were the white characters in Fawcett’s other romance books. (In fact MOST Fawcett characters tended to be a bit…bland. Captain Marvel lead the pack!)

It is not known if Hollingsworth did ALL of the artwork in Negro Romance but he did pencil a great deal of the book.

Although Negro Romance only lasted three issues the mere fact of it’s existence is remarkable and reflects the talent and sensitivity of the men who created it.

Of course I did not know Alvin Hollingsworth and have only ever seen a few pages of his work. But he was a man and like many men I HAVE known, Alvin overcame great odds and I am sure he paid a personal price for that. He left the world a bit richer and more beautiful than he found it. And he made a powerful statement without blowing anything up to do it.

Alvin Hollingsworth was a creator.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving

That’s 30!

Mitch

How...Human

2011-11-15T19:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you find moving and poignant moments in the places you least expect it

It was the last day of NYCC. And on a whim, on my way out my I suggested to my daughter Alyx that we might take in the retrospective on gene Colan going on in one of the side rooms. I have always been a great fan of the great Gene Colan. I always thought of him as more than just an artist.

I had always seen him as a consummate story teller. He did more with shadow and light to create the full range of human emotion than perhaps any comic artist in the history of the medium. For you younger readers who may not be familiar with gene’s work, I strongly urge you to check out any reprints you can get your hands on.

He was perhaps most famous for his work on Tomb Of Dracula, Iron Man and Daredevil but he was highly prolific and those titles represent only the tip of the iceberg. Along with Jack Kirby and Curt Swan, Gene was a giant.

But…

What really drew me to the panel was the fact that Don McGregor was speaking. I had always loved his work on Killraven in Amazing Adventures. He had created truly three dimensional characters with all the beauty and warts that flesh is heir to. His run on Amazing Adventures was very much ahead of it’s time and stands up today as a thoughtful and deeply textured science fiction epic. Frankly I wanted to see if Don was as…human…as his writing.

The panel was not crowded. There may have been 50 or 60 of us there. Mostly “old timers’ like me. A few younger fans were there as well. But that intimacy only added to what was to follow from a remarkable man.
I am here to tell you that Don McGregor may be the MOST human being I have come across in decades. He spoke for some time about his close friend, Gene Colan, telling more than a few funny stories. There was nothing maudlin or self pitying in his recollections. On the contrary, Mr. McGregor allowed those of us in the room to celebrate his friend’s life and work in a very intimate way. He gave us all a gift. Don made us feel as if we are also friends of Gene. I do know this. Mr. Colan was a very fortunate man to have a friend like Don.

It was impossible not to see the deep feeling Don has for Gene and if he was able to stay clear eyed, he was about the only one. Let me just say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. In fact Alyx (jaded college student that she is) had a good cry with him after the presentation and he was genuinely moved by my daughter’s empathy.

So human.

As you start to get older you can’t get away from the fact that you are going to lose people who you love. There is no getting around this fact. It is one of the more bittersweet aspects of life I think. There is a special poignancy when it is the loss of a FRIEND. We choose our friends with great care, especially those we share a lifetime with. If you are lucky, you have one friend like that. I am doubly blessed that I have two.

Listening to Don remember his friend made me realize all over again just how dear my old friends are to me…and that one day one of us will be leaving that close knit circle.

So thank you Don.

Thank you for sharing your humanity and memories of your friend.

Thank you for moving my child to tears.

Thank you for reminding me of how precious my friends are to me.

And thank you for being so damned human.

Mitch

Some post NYCC observations.

2011-11-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

While NYCC has become a multi-media, multi-genre event ranging from live performance to movies, TV, Anime, Sci-Fi and more, for me it has always been about the COMICS. As usual I was very quickly reminded that big shows are generally not the places to shop for older comics if you are looking for a bargain.

YES there are MANY comic bargains at large shows such as NYCC. There are endless $1 boxes stuffed with GREAT reading. Modern comics tend to be heavily discounted and trade paperbacks/hard cover collections are slashed by over 50% by Sunday. You can even find decent prices on LOWER GRADED Silver and Golden Age Comics.

BUT if you are looking for higher grade or scarce Silver/Golden Age books steer clear. Even Mid Grade books tend to be over priced. The dealers are also less inclined to make deals at a big show than they are when I see THE SAME guys at smaller shows all year!

I went to NYCC with a very specific shopping list this year. I wanted high grade (VF or better) copies of Batman #227 and Detective #441, and a Fine copy of Laugh #61. I also wanted to get a copy of Vampirella #1 (1969) in VG or better condition. While I found all four books at the show, the prices on the first three were not only over Overstreet guide, but WAY over! Consequently I only purchased the Vampi at the show.

I will get into some of the reasons for the over pricing later in this column.

Now let’s talk about the Laugh, Batman and Detective comics, which I DID purchase from Ebay right after Comiccon.

Batman #227 is a highly sought after Neal Adams cover and has been going up rapidly in both demand and price. In VF the current OS Guide has it at $89 but that is a low price. I had been tracking it on ebay auctions and VF to VF+ copies were typically going for around $200. I saw an 8.5 unslabbed (not in a CGC case) copy at NYCC for $400! The dealer would not budge below $375 so I took a pass. That Sunday I put a bid down on this copy (below) on Ebay and got it for $218. When it arrived I was extremely happy with the condition (VF+) as it was every bit as nice as the NYCC copy I passed on.
Win for me!

The copy of Detective that you see below is in VF/NM condition. I got it for $20 on Ebay. It was selling for $100 at the show. FORTY PERCENT over the guide price of $60. This was even more egregious than the batman #227 because Detective comics in this issue range have been somewhat flat over the past few years. They DO go up in value but only by small increments. The dealer would not come down below $80. Ebay gave me another win!

Finally there is this Golden Age copy of Laugh #61. Not as I have mentioned in other columns Golden Age Archie comics are VERY hard to find in any condition over VG. WHEN YOU CAN FIND THEM AT ALL! So I was more than willing to pay twice guide (Guide is $30) for this book. I found two dealers with the book. One was in VG and he wanted $100. Another had a copy in about the same condition as the scan below and he wanted $225. Again, the dealers were not inclined to make what I thought was a good deal. I found THIS copy on Ebay for a Buy It Now of $30. I did not even have to bid!
WIN! WIN! WIN!!

So why are dealers at large shows such as NYCC a) over pricing the books and b) showing reluctance to “deal”?

Two reasons.

First, a guide is ONLY that…a “guide”. A dealer, any dealer has every right to ask any price they like for a book. There is no rule here. A dealer will make a decision on the desirability of any given book. Often they sell BELOW guide because a given book simply won’t sell at the overstreet price. It is up to the COLLECTOR to determine if any given book is “overpriced” for HIS/HER collection. In my case, it was my determination that these books were over priced at the show. That judgement was confirmed by the prices I ultimately paid for these books online.

Second, a large show is VERY expensive for dealers to attend. Aside from the table fees, there is transportation, their time and the inevitable theft that comes with large crowds. The dealer must factor this into his prices or he does not stay a dealer for long.

Also, large shows tend to bring out casual colletors and impulse buyers who simply don’t know that it is perfectly acceptable to haggle (within reason) over the price of a book. In short, the size of the crowd creates a selling atmosphere in which the dealer does not HAVE to come down on his prices. I have purchased from many of the very same dealers at smaller shows in New Jersey and gotten a price they refused to give me at NYCC!

The next question I know is coming is “Isn’t buying comics from Ebay risky? How do you know the book is in the advertised condition?”

Valid question. In fact you Do have to be careful buying on Ebay. I NEVER bid on a book without large, sharp images in the ad. I often send emails to the seller asking for additional internal scans. However, given the feedback model used on Ebay, most sellers actually UNDERGRADE their books. They do not want to risk bad feedback. Typically the books I get are about a half grade BETTER than advertised. Also, keep in mind that dealers at a show display their high priced books to their best advantage. Often in Mylar which enhances the look of the book. You have to be careful with a LIVE transaction every bit as much as with an online purchase.

The really interesting aspect of all this back issue collecting is the fact that Overstreet does not take online auctions into account when they come up with the values they place on comics. Those values are determined by a board of advisors, many of whom are (guess what?) DEALERS! Now why oh WHY would they not want the actual price that collectors are paying to be the value used in the guide?

I wonder…espically when MOST of these same dealers sell and auction online at prices LOWER than those they use in live transactions. Again, they are entitled to charge anything they want to either online OR live. It is up to the saavy collector to get the best price.

Which is why I am giving you guys the heads up here!

By the way…I DID get my Vampirella #1 at the show (VG+) for a very nice price ($60 or 30% BELOW guide) so there ARE deals to be made at big shows. Just make sure to do your purchasing in the LAST hours of the LAST day when the dealers are more motivated to getting those last few sales before they pack up!

Again, let me emphasize that ther ARE tons of great bragains to be had at any big show. You just need to know where to look!

That’s 30!

Mitch

Digital Comics...The New "D.C."?

2011-10-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

This year at NYCC one of the hot topics for discussion was the growing popularity of digital comics and what they might mean to the future of the hobby. The question of whether or not Digital Comics would become part of the retail landscape has already been answered. They are here to stay. Look at the home page right here at CBJ and you will see a link to a digital comics vendor.

The question of digital comics breaks down into two parts, aesthetic and financial.

Let’s talk bucks first.

Digital comics make all the financial sense in the world. They are ridiculously cheap to produce and distribute when compared to their printed counterparts.

Both digital and print comics are created in the same way. Someone writes, someone draws, someone inks and someone edits. No difference.

However it changes drastically from there. Take print first:

Presses and press time needs to be secured and the comics must be physically produced at some cost per copy to the publisher. Press/printing time is NOT cheap.

Physical Comics are printed on PAPER. Again, not cheap.

Physical comics use INK.

Physical comics use staples.

They have to be broken down, packed in boxes, sealed, stored, inventoried,

shipped, and in some cases returned.

Some copies are damaged, destroyed or stolen in this process.

As someone who works in Logistics and transportation I can tell you that NONE of that is cheap. It’s why you pay so much for your copy of Fear Itself!

Another thing about physical comics…you have to leave your house to get them. For those of us who live close to a comic shop this is actually FUN, but for many collectors who do NOT have a shop readily available, collecting becomes a very arduous task. Those collectors have to travel around looking for their books, or subscribe to the comics they want. They generally won’t have the books on a Wednesday AND they pay shipping more often than not.

Physical comics take up a HUGE amount of space. Don’t believe me? Come by my house and I’ll give you a tour of the “dungeon”, IF you can actually fit down there! It’s wall to wall comic boxes with no end in sight. That ALSO costs me money as I pay for every square foot of my house just like anyone else with a mortgage.

I never ran the numbers but I would bet it costs me several hundred dollars a year to store my comics, between the above mentioned space, comic boxes, boards, bags, and shelves etc. I own upwards of 15,000 comics now and they are ALL bagged and boarded. If you want to make sure your comics STAY in good shape you need to do REPEAT this process for all of your books every few years. YOW!

Digital comics won’t deteriorate. They will look EXACTLY the same 100 years from now as they do the day they are created. The don’t get ripped. They don’t get musty. They don’t get water damaged.

Again, digital comics make all the financial sense in the world.
BUT, I’ll take print thankyouverymuch.

Why? If Digital Comics are all THAT why would I EVER want an archaic, nasty, soot ridden, (ugh!) PHYSICAL comic?

Here is why…

Physical comics are self contained. They ARE the app and I don’t need a gadget to read them.

You can HOLD a physical comic in your hands, turn the pages and lose yourself in other worlds on a lazy afternoon at the beach, or in the car, even on the POT! Anywhere.

You can fold it in half and put it in your back pocket.

You can carefully maintain it in mylar and proudly display your collection to your friends.

You can physically flip through your boxes of comics, reliving the halcyon days of yore (or mine) when you first obtained these multi colored beauties.
You can get your favorite creator to sign your physical comics….if you’re nice!

Yes the DIGITAL image may never fade while the physical one DOES, but the physical comic just looks better to me. Sort of how some people swear that vinyl sounds better than a CD or digital recording.

Physical comics are collectable. Someday you might sell them for a profit. Maybe not. But it is a lot of fun grading and pricing them!

I spent several happy hours yesterday putting my NYCC purchases into bags and boards and then nesting them in their proper boxes while taking another look at each and every one. Can’t do that with digital. I suppose you can create a new folder on your computer from time to time but it ain’t the same!

Same Day (when there ARE same day) Digital comics COST roughly the same as physical comics. Why would I spend the same money for a DC as a PC? (I suspect that, before too much longer, digital comics released the same day as their physical counterparts will cost a lot less than the hard copies.)
I do think that, for the foreseeable future that digital and physical comics will co-exist. Each format has it’s virtues.

Digital in particular means that ANYONE can publish, which is a wonderful opportunity for creators AND fans.

Physical comics have all the strengths, and flaws, of being tangible, which is actually a virtue in itself.

So fold your comic and stick it in your back pocket AND fire up digital on your iPad.

Either way…it’s COMICS!!

That’s 30!

Mitch

Requiem For The True Superman

2011-10-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

As this was “The Summer Of The Superhero Movie”, I was going to be writing about my opinion on the best ever SH movie. In my opinion that continues to be Superman-The Movie. The idea began to germinate in my mind when I went to see Captain America and found that it shared a quality with the earlier film that I think is essential in a great superhero film (or any film for that matter). The central character must be HONEST. The actor must take the subject matter absolutely seriously even when it is in the fantastical realm of science fiction or fantasy. This is especially crucial with an Iconic character such as Cap or Superman. Chris Evans was so successful as Cap because he was HONEST as an actor with the character.

Because HE believed, WE believed.

No one ever did this better than Chris Reeve as Superman. In fact he may have been the single most honest actor I have ever seen. Not necessarily the most talented, although he was certainly that, just the most honest. He respected Superman…was honest in his portrayal and never made light of the Man of Steel. And while his CLARK was over the top, he was also a very HUMAN being. Again, honesty.
As I mentioned earlier this WAS going to be a column about my take on Superman-The Movie but then I got to thinking that the anniversary of Christopher’s death was coming up. Sure enough when I looked it up the anniversary is October 10th.

So I decided that this column would be why I do believe that Superman was an absolutely REAL person.

In the final analysis you can best judge a person’s essential character when they are under duress. MOST people shine when things go well. But how does a person react when they have everything stripped away?

One can say that up until his accident, Chris reeve lead a storybook life. He was a major motion picture star, had legions of fans, a lovely wife and many causes that he supported. It must have been pretty cool to be Chris!
Then, in a blink the single most important thing he had was stripped from him. His health. He went from being a vital, athletic man to near total paralysis. Many people would have turned towards the wall, given up, or even turned bitter. Many people would have grown angry and lashed out at those around them. I am sure that Chris struggled with all of this.
But what he DID was become the real Superman.

He embraced his lifelong activism more than ever, championing the necessity for Stem Cell research. He became a spokesman for this cause, tirelessly working to get the message out.

Reeve was elected Chairman of the American Paralysis Association and Vice Chairman of the National Organization on Disability. He co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is now one of the leading spinal cord research centers in the world. He created Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation to speed up research through funding, and to use grants to improve the quality of the lives of people with disabilities. The Foundation to date has given more than $65 million for research, and more than $8.5 million in quality-of-life grants.

The Foundation has funded a new technology called "Locomotor Training" that uses a treadmill to mimic the movements of walking to help develop neural connections, in effect re-teaching the spinal cord how to send signals to the legs to walk. This technology has helped several paralyzed patients walk again.

He never quit. He believed that, one day he would walk again. He never waivered from that belief for the rest of his life. AND he shocked his doctors by actually regaining some movement.

In 2000, he began to regain some motor function, and was able to sense hot and cold temperatures on his body. Reeve then moved his left index finger on command. "I don't think Dr. McDonald would have been more surprised if I had just walked on water", said Reeve in an interview.

Chris WAS going to win. I really believe that Superman was going to fly again.

He just ran out of time.

On October 10, 2004 Chris Reeve died from cardiac arrest after being given antibiotics for an infection.

But he never gave up.

And that was his victory.

There is a line at the beginning of the 1970’s Bio-Pic “Brian’s Song”. It goes: “All true stories end in death.”

Chris’s life was a true story so it could not end any other way. But I like to think more about how he lived than how he died. And I especially like to think about how he left…

ON HIS FEET.

STANDING UP.

I believe in Superman.

He’s my hero.

His name was Christopher Reeve.

That’s 30.

Mitch

Pre Comic-Con This N’ That

2011-09-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

Well NYCC is less than a month away and it looks like, once again it is going to be a blast! Attendees who purchased their tickets prior to the mailing this week should be seeing heir passes in a few days. I myself am posting my ever watchful dog Scully at the mailbox just to make sure there are no mishaps! Of course she DOES sleep most of the day so the “ever watchful” part is probably more like the “occasional glance”…and now that I think of it, the only thing Scully ever really looks at is her supper dish. Oh well, she IS furry and often wags her tail so all is not lost.
This year the Show is going to be over FOUR days, Thursday-Sunday October 13-16. For those of you who are going for the first time, prepare yourselves!

Below is my tried and true , well not actually TRUE true…more like semi true in the sense of not being exactly false…NYCC Survival guide!
1) Make use of the tools and schedule posted on the New York Comic Con Official Website. (www.newyorkcomiccon.com ). They have everything from floor maps to panel and show schedules, a list do’s and don’ts, booth locations for every dealer and show exclusives. This is all tied into an online show planner tool so you can print out your master plan! Trust me, you will NOT be able to attend every event at the Con. If you go in blind you will likely miss that ONE event you want to see most. So spending a few hours with the Show Planner is time well spent.
2) Arrive EARLY on the day of the Con. It is an absolute madhouse and it is very easy to find yourself still waiting to get in a good hour after the convention starts. Get into Manhattan early, have a BIG breakfast (you are going to need it! But more on food in a bit), and be among the first on line. One of the best times at the Con, for me, is chatting to people who are waiting to get into the show. It is a great opportunity to make new friends who share your passion for comics.
3) Bring a shopping “kit”. Believe me you don’t want to be walking around the floor with your swag dropping behind you. My kit consists of a good sized back pack with the following: two or three very sturdy shopping bags, a poster tube, bags and boards for any loose comics, Comic Book Price Guide, Folder with my show plan print outs, camera and extra batteries, and some snacks.
4) Ok, let’s talk food. You do NOT want to buy food inside the Javits Center. It is not bad by any means but it IS expensive and if you are like me, you have a limited budget. I for one would rather spend my dough on collectibles and not a $6 hot dog. Eat before you come in, slide a bag lunch or snack into your kit, and go OUT for dinner. There are several reasonably priced eating options outside the Javits Center. Believe me you ARE going to need to eat and refuel as NYCC will severely test your endurance!
5) We all know that one of the main reasons we attend the Con in the first place is to satisfy our UNBRIDLED AVARICE! When I look around at all that swag and all those dealers I feel like an Orange Lantern! Larfleeze Lives! MINEMINEMINE!!! BUT you can’t have everything so you need to maximize your bucks. Take the time to make a shopping list. What items are you aggressively hunting? Which are “nice to have” and which are low priority? Set a drop dead price for your items. Don’t over spend on a collectible. You may not get it at the Con but it WILL come your way down the road at your price if you are realistic in your expectations. Don’t go ANYWHERE without your trusty price guide. A CBG or Overstreet guide is a must in your kit. Second, shop around! Chances are that several dealers have the items you want. Don’t be afraid to bargain (just be polite and reasonable) and do your buying at the END of the day, preferably the end of the day on Sunday. Why? Dealers always give their best prices at the end of a show. Also anything you buy early, you are going to have to carry around for the rest of the day (unless you have a VIP pass and access to the VIP lounge).
6) FREE STUFF! Even if you don’t spend a DIME on a single comic or collectible you can go home with BAGS of free swag, from comics, to tee shirts, toys, posters…you name it. This should be your first hunter/gatherer activity because the best swag always goes FIRST. Hit the smaller companies first because they generally run out of give a ways before the big guys like Marvel and DC.
7) PACE YOURSELF. Especially if you are attending all four days you are going to need to take some breaks just to get away from the crowds. Breaks are the best time to find a quiet place and organize your swag/purchases to make sure they are not being damaged or lost. It is also a good idea to use breaks as a way to hook up with people you are attending the show with. Over the course of the day you WILL get separated so having a set time and place for a break will cut down on the “OMG!! I lost my little brother” syndrome.
8) Secure your personal electronics and your money. You are going to be sharing space with 100,000 people and on Saturday in particular you won’t be able to MOVE on the main floor. It is easy to lose your I-Pod, Cell phone or money if you don’t keep them secured properly. Plus, as much as we don’t like to think so, not everyone is honest. People WILL try to take your stuff if you tempt them by leaving it within easy reach. Keep your money in a front pocket and not in a wallet or purse. Think about living without your I-Pod (LEAVE IT HOME!)for the day and make sure your cell phone is secure on your person. Also, most of the transactions you will make will be in cash. While it is rare to find a dealer who will try to cheat you with change and such, they ARE handling so much money at the same time that it is EASY to make a mistake. It is ultimately YOUR responsibility to make sure you account for all of your change on purchases. COUNT it right there in front of the dealer before you leave the booth. A little vigilance will keep your weekend from being ruined by loss or theft.
9) One of my personal pet peeves is people dominating an autograph line. Nothing is more inconsiderate than bringing a BOX of items for a creator to sign. They have a limited amount of time to sign and if they burn up ten minutes of the hour on one person then other fellow collectors are going to go away disappointed. Don’t be a part of that problem. Three items or less is plenty and will help the line move along!
10) FINALLY make sure to tell everyone you meet that YOU shop at the very best comic shop in the world. Comic Book Jones! (Ok it’s a shameless plug but then I am a shameless guy !)
By now I don’t have to tell anyone that I am a die hard DC Universe Online NUT! Well if a wide open world full of DC goodness did not draw you in. If the addition of Green Lantern power sets and content wasn’t enough to get you to take the plunge. If the opportunity to join a league with ME (Coldfire!) didn’t grab you (Though that SHOULD have sent you running!), then how does FREE TO PLAY grab you??!!

(That’s ME above. ICONIC huh? :) )

Yup, coming at the end of October the good folks at SOE are making DCUO (DC Universe Online to you noobs!) free to play. Of course there are Premium and Legendary tiers that you can pay for but you can get into the world of DCU, play all the in game content and even join a League for NO bucks! I look at it as a great introduction to the game. A chance to dip your feet in and see if you like it. THEN you might decide to opt for a full access LEGENDARY plan that (among other things) allows you to have unlimited in game cash, 16 characters or more, free updates and full voice chat options. Both the PC and PS3 versions of the game will be going F2P!
NOW is the time for you to suit up and take down Brainiac!... Storming the inner Batcave to defeat brother Eye alongside SEVEN other team mates never gets old…and who would NOT want to become a member of the Justice League (you get THAT opportunity when you hit level 30!)?
And THAT’S 30!
Mitch