Giant-Size Geek

Selling Superman documentary on Prime Video

2026-03-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

I’ve been watching this documentary series on Prime Video: Selling Superman. You probably heard about this father in Michigan, who died with hundreds of long boxes of comics in his house. He was a difficult person to deal with, divorced and hard on his kids, and never let his family near the comics. His son moved the hundreds of long boxes to a “vault”, which seems like shipping containers in a climate controlled warehouse, with industrial strength locks. The son and a couple friends started going through the collection. They found Superman 1 from 1939 and Batman 1 from 1940, each high grade and worth millions. But, the value of the rest of the comics exceeded those two! Golden age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, he collected everything. Some he bought multiple copies! For example, Strange Tales 169 (first Brother Voodoo) he had dozens of those. I saw a stack of New Gods 1. The first Silver Surfer series, multiple copies of those. We’re talking glossy, great condition comics here. It’s a big job for them just to sort through the comics and figure out how to sell them. They work with a couple of local dealers. It’s both exciting and very moving to watch.

Batman movie posters by Tom Uicich

2025-04-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

These have been out for a while, but I just came across these wonderful Batman movie poster retakes by artist Tom Uicich. Tom redid the Batman Begins and The Dark Knight posters in the Batman Animated Series style.

Terminal: John Paul Leon Batman two-part story

2024-09-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

I stopped collecting monthly comics some years ago but I still keep up with the "big two" publishers via Marvel Unlimited and DC Universe Infinite Ultra. On the latter, I've been on a Batman kick lately. I came across this little gem from 2014: Detective Comics 35-36, a two part story by Benjamin Percy and John Paul Leon called Terminal.

The cover is unusual. Usually, editors prefer the hero to be prominent on the cover. Here, Batman is in the background, although the vanishing point draws you to his image. The story concept is somewhat reminiscent of the Fox TV series Fringe. In the 2008 pilot episode of Fringe, a plane mysterious lands at Boston airport: all the passengers are dead, due to a biological agent released. The plane landed on autopilot (which doesn't seem right). In Percy's story, all passengers are dead, but it is due to a virus that ages them super fast over a 24 hour period. However, the plane does NOT land on autopilot...

...it actually crashes into the airplane terminal, which John Paul Leon illustrates in terrific detail. I think this makes the story both more exciting and believable at the same time. I can't help but think of Tom King's 2016 Batman #1 rebirth/relaunch, where he had Batman get on top of a jumbo jet and try to divert it from crashing into Gotham City. Here, there's nothing Batman can do to avoid the disaster. His role is to play Detective, which matches the name of the comic.

How does Batman get involved with all of this? The story starts off establishing a mood right away, where Bruce Wayne is being driven to the airport by Alfred. Alfred wants Bruce to take a vacation. But Bruce will not be getting a trip to paradise.

Bruce, a billionaire, naturally has his own luxury private jet. While he's waiting inside, drinking tea and reading the paper, Alfred tells him they can't take off because of the emergency. I love this page, the way it is illustrated and the relationship between Bruce and Alfred. There is some Mazzucchelli influence here. (Bruce/Batman needs Alfred in his life; DC made a huge mistake getting rid of him.) Note the headline on the newspaper, that's not a throwaway gag.

Batman is the first one into the crashed airplane, naturally, investigating the crime scene before the airport police get in. The head of the airport cops is stunned to see what's inside, and to learn from Batman, that the airport must be sealed immediately - no one should come in or leave. The decaying virus is spreading and both Batman and the police chief are infected. They've only got 24 hours or less to live.

The terrorist who released this virus on the plane is revealed as an eco-terrorist, Mangus Magnuson, who wants the United States to withdraw from the Middle East, in return for the antidote. And what's remarkable is that this story is concluded in the next issue: something we don't see much anymore, a two part story. Usually the editors want to drag stuff out for six issues to put into a collection. Perhaps it was conceived as a fill in to give the regular artist a break.

It's not a perfect story. As I mentioned, the plane with the people dead seems way too similar to the Fringe pilot. The antidote is eventually discovered - but after Batman and the police chief have aged up. So the antidote not only cures the virus but reverses the aging process? Isolate the latter please and mass market it, no one needs to be old anymore.

But I do like this moody, suspenseful type of Batman story where he's working in darkness and using his detective skills to solve a problem. I probably wouldn't like it if John Paul Leon hadn't done such a good job of illustrating it. We lost him in 2021, way too soon.

Marvel Comics advertisement for retailers in 1973

2024-08-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

This 1973 Marvel advertisement was designed to appeal to retailers across the country. Not the direct market - that did not exist yet. This was for newsstands, grocery stores, drug stores or convenience stores such as 7-Eleven or Quik Mart. Marvel Comics at that time sold for twenty cents per comic. The retailer would make 6 cents profit per comic. So, if they managed to sell 100 comics, the retailer would make $6 of profit? Doesn't seem worth it, even with all prices being lower back then. I love the box on the side showing the titles of the Marvel black and white magazines.

Star Wars try-out strips by Al Williamson from 1977

2024-07-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

Star Wars became a big hit in 1977, both as a film and a Marvel comic book series. Star Wars also had a daily newspaper strip that ran from 1979 to 1984. When the feature first debuted, the artist was Russ Manning, known for Magnus, Robot Fighter, Tarzan, and other Gold Key comics. Al Williamson, who I think most people would say is one of the best Star Wars artists, took over the strip from 1981 to 1984 - and also did Marvel's Empire Strikes Back adaptation.

I just recently saw these fantastic images: Al Williamson's try-out sample strips for Star Wars back in 1978. They adapt the move and they are exquisitely beautiful. Archie Goodwin wrote the script. George Lucas had wanted a strip like Flash Gordon, and Williamson had been the artist on that.

Williamson was going to charge Lucasfilm $1200 for six dailies and a sample strip. However, there was some kind of delay in delivering the payment, and Williamson decided not to pursue the job any further. Luckily, he did illustrate Star Wars a few years later.

I found these strips originally on Paul Duncan's X profile who also explained the history. Thank you, Paul!

Peanuts and Lil Abner / Al Capp

2024-07-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

From Lil Abner comic strip by Al Capp, in October 1968: three Sunday strips taking on Charles Schulz and Peanuts. In an early 1980 issue of the Comics Journal, there was "Al Capp: The Last Interview" by Rick Marschall - actually conducted in October 1977. Capp: "Peanuts is a great strip, but no one has ever said, publicly, that they don't like Peanuts." Later: "In America, you must like Peanuts, even if you really don't."

On Dan Brady's blog, you can read a Los Angeles Times article where they asked Charles Schulz his opinion about the parody. He didn't think it was very funny.

I think this parody's good in a Wally Wood kind of way! Although I really do love Peanuts more than ever.

The Joker by Brian Bolland from 1988

2024-07-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

This is an illustration by Brian Bolland from 1988 for USA Magazine. This would have been the same year that The Killing Joke was published.

Thanks to Colin Smith for sharing this image!

Humor Mascots (Alfred E Neuman, Forbush Man) in an Avengers Circle

2024-07-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

By the talented Kerry Callan...

Alice & Jack: Pointless and Stupid

2024-07-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

Alice & Jack was a highly promoted series on PBS Masterpiece earlier this year. Six episodes, I recorded all the episodes and finally watched them months later. I was fascinated by the first episode; some reviews have said this show was a waste of time - I thought they must be wrong. By the time I finished the series, those reviews turned out to be correct. I have a feeling this show was pitched as "Normal People for Adults" but it has none of the nuance, nor any sensuality.

Alice and Jack meet on a Tinder-like date (in 2007, before it existed) and have a one night tryst. I can see why Alice likes Jack (Domhnall Gleeson) but I can't figure out why he's so crazy about her. Alice is rude and abrupt, though she softens up later on. There's a trauma from her childhood, touched upon briefly in one episode, to explain her behavior, but it all seems shallow. Everything seems like a plot device rather than an exploration of character. Andrea Riseborough portrays Alice as best she can, eyes welling up with tears at any given moment. At one point they haven't seen each other for two years, then Alice sends Jack an invitation to her wedding. Jack is pissed - but TWO YEARS have passed - Jack has a PhD and is a scientist, why wouldn't he assume she's moved on? Why didn't Jack move on? It's ridiculous. Whenever one of them appears to be in a good relationship with someone else, they come back together and it blows up everything. Again, it's unexplained, there's hardly any sex involved (not looking for graphic sexual content, but often people lose their heads over someone they are highly attracted to), and Jack does one dumb thing after another.

Years and years pass, Jack is still single - a highly educated and successful person with no problems other than he thinks of Alice too much. He starts off dates by telling women he's hung up on Alice. Then towards the end, when Alice has stage 4 cancer, Jack has an aortic aneurysm - the doctor explains that he could die of an aortic dissection unless he reduces his stress level. I could predict that he would die very close to Alice's death - and that's what happened. It's supposed to be poetic but I see the writer's plot machinations and it just seems stupid.

The other problem is this show is two episodes too long. The fifth episode is mostly about the two of them wandering around London discussing their history. The sixth episode has Alice pass away early, with flashbacks to scenes we've already watched in the previous five episodes, just padding it out to meet the running time. I don't know why I stuck with it other than I like Domhnall Gleeson, but he was wasted here.

New X-Men by Grant Morrison: Doom Patrol, redux?

2024-07-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

I've been on a mutant nostalgia trip lately, fueled by the X-Men 97 animated show that debuted this year. That show rocked; it picked some great stuff from the comics, put their own spin on them, and made a terrific show. The soap opera elements also worked, with a romantic triangle between Magneto, Gambit and Rogue. I've found the Krakoa era comics to have peaks and valleys - it started off well enough but seemed to get bogged down. Watching X-Men 97 was like a visit to an earlier time. So I decided to re-read Grant Morrison's 2001 New X-Men run, which inspired the sequence in X-Men 97 where the nation of Genosha was attacked.

I found the entire New X-Men run to be hit or miss. When Morrison's stories are illustrated by his frequent collaborator, Frank Quitely, the combination of the two is really spectacular. The first three issues are a massive change from the status quo of the X-Men for the previous decade. The X-Men are taken out of their Jim Lee era costumes and placed into leather uniforms designed by Quitely, which both new and old, as the X motif across the chest is styled after the X-Men's 1960s uniforms. The attack on Genosha (which is not really depicted in the detail it was on the animated episode) reduces the mutant population to 200 or so mutants. Morrison felt there were too many mutants in the Marvel Universe and wanted to bring it back to that 1960s era when they were truly a minority. Magneto is dead, seemingly.

Emma Frost joins the team, becoming yet another villain turned hero and joining the ranks of Rogue, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Her arrival threatens the sanctity of the Scott Summers / Jean Grey marriage, with a flirtation that continues throughout the run.

Morrison and Quitely create a new super-villain, Cassandra Nova, who is later revealed to be the twin sister of Professor X. Cassandra will be appearing in the Deadpool vs Wolverine movie.

There are clever new little inventions, like the faculty conferences held in mind-space, linked up by the telepaths on the team. They can be dispersed across the world and still have a meeting. Even with a meeting, Quitely can illustrate this with skill, showing the body language and attitude of each character.

Quitely is so good it is hard to read the issues without his work. And that happens very quickly, as he is not a very fast artist. Igor Kordey subs in for Quitely on a number of issues in the first couple of years and to my taste, it's horrible. My understanding is that because of deadline pressures, Kordey drew these issues quickly, and that his European artwork is much better. Ethan Van Sciver, Chris Bachalo and Phil Jiminez also drew a number of issues and their work is much better, but nothing like Quitely.

Not all of Morrison's inventions work for me. Fantomex, a character inspired by the Italian thief Diabolik, left me cold. I didn't think he was cool and I kind of dreaded seeing him pop up in any story. Making him part of the Weapon X program and doling out hints to Wolverine about his origin - whatever.

One of the things I liked about this run was Morrrison creating new mutants that really seemed weird. This is a repetition of what Morrison did in Doom Patrol at DC Comics. Xorn, when he initially appeared, was a character I loved. A mutant with a tiny star in his head (how that works, don't ask me), he can produce gravitational affects and also seems to be good at healing people. An innocent from living in a prison for quite a while, he had no idea how to deal with everyday people. There's one issue with Xorn, drawn by John Paul Leon, where he wants to save any mutant he can from persecution. Later on, it's revealed that there is NO XORN - that was actually Magneto under the mask, fooling and working alongside the X-Men for the entire time! This was a surprise when I read this stuff 20 plus years ago, but now, it makes no sense whatsoever. I almost think that Morrison created Xorn as a new character and then decided half way through to make him Magneto. It is a repeat of the plot that Morrison used in Doom Patrol, where towards the end, it is revealed that The Chief is a villain behind the tragedies that happened to the DP team members. When Magneto returns, he's more evil than ever, murdering people left and right, far away from the character today who is more of a hero. It is such a terrible plot device that Marvel retconned it - Xorn was someone who believed himself to be Magneto. Again, it makes no sense, but if it undoes Morrison's mistake, I can live with it.

I think there are three high points for the entire Morrison New X-Men run. The first one being the initial three issue arc that introduces the new status quo. The second one is a single issue, New X-Men 121, where Jean Grey and Emma Frost take a psychic journey into Professor Xavier's mind, which was hacked by Cassandra Nova. (This later inspired an issue of Giant Size X-Men by Jonathan Hickman and Russell Dauterman.) The third one is "Riot at Xavier's" where the adversary for the team is the students at the school. Quentin Quagmire brings a skinpunk attitude against the pacifistic teachings of Xavier. Some of the kids are taking a drug called Kick which amps up their mutant abilities temporarily. Xavier badly ignores this threat until a full blown riot erupts - precisely on the Open House day when normal people and press are invited onto the campus.

Was this the origin of the "Magneto Was Right" slogan and t-shirt? Perhaps so. Quentin Quagmire is really a cool character that has stuck around.

One problem with trying to read X-Men is with so many series throughout the years, it is hard to read something in sequence that explains what happened. Quentin apparently dies at the end of Riot. He gets resurrected later, dies again, and lives again. I am trying to follow the trail of continuity but it is difficult. There could be an "All the Marvels" book just on the X-Men alone. Quentin will be in the new July 2024 X-Men team, where Cyclops tells him, "Please Quentin, you've died more times than any other mutant. You should be used to this."

The Stepford Cuckoos were a delightful addition, a set of telepaths at the Xavier school. Five of them who are linked together, their numbers get cut down by two. Morrison's sense of humor throughout this series is pretty good, although at times there are so many humorous moments that it almost feels like a parody comic.

Riot at Xavier ends with a subplot that everyone wanted to see move along - Scott's infatuation with Emma. Which isn't entirely physical - Scott has been traumatized after being possessed (before New X-Men) and seems to be more repressed than ever around Jean. Emma comes on to Scott in the most seductive way possible, by donning a Dark Phoenix costume.

When Jean Grey discovers all of this is going on, the result is explosive, in a trashy, soap opera way. The equivalent of Krystle vs Alexis on Dynasty - an outdated reference to a nighttime show from the 1980s. But it does lead the way to a new status quo after Morrison leaves: for Scott and Emma to really be a couple in love. I've no idea when they fall out of love - Scott is now exclusive to Jean again in 2024 post Krakoa.

The last two arcs of Morrison's run seem tame compared to what has come before. The arc where Xorn is revealed to Magneto, who terrorizes New York and starts to organize human executions. Jean becomes a full Phoenix again, dies again, while Wolverine kills Magneto. It has none of the wonderment or charm of the high points that I mentioned. The "coda" arc, four issues illustrated by Marc Silvestri, which look gorgeous, is a future history where mutants have taken over the world, opposed by Wolverine, Cassandra Nova, and others. The Beast is a villain - ironic, considering Beast was a villain in the Krakoa era as well. It's okay but the main point seems to be for a revived Phoenix to give Scott a blessing to turn to Emma for comfort and in doing so, stay with the X-Men - undoing the horrible future that is to come.

What could be done with the X-Men after Grant Morrison leaves? They made an uneven run but it was revolutionary. Fortunately, Marvel honcho Joe Quesada, on the day he learned of Morrison's departure, ran into an obscure TV hack who might be able to follow up: Joss Whedon.

Belgium's Comic Strip Trail

2024-06-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Last week, I returned from a vacation in Amsterdam and Belgium. When I visited Brussels, one of the top things on my list was to find as many murals on the Comic Strip Trail that I could. I actually did not realize before this trip, that many European comics that I have seen were actually created by Belgian creators. I knew of Tintin and XII, but didn't know the creators were from this country. I am still reading more and expanding my horizons here.

The mural I most wanted to find was Tintin and this was actually the easiest! First, we visited the infamous Manneken Pis statue in the historical area. Just up the street from that, in the direction of La Grand Place, there is a comic book store, "Moule a Gaufres". I could have bought so much here, but with limited suitcase space, I settled for a Tintin mug. I was fascinated by the quality of all the comic albums (graphic novels), literally hundreds of them and most looked appealing. Emerging from the store, I turned around and saw...the Tintin mural (above)! It was very cool.

Actually, the first mural I saw was not Tintin but Olivier Rameau, a short distance before I got to the Manneken Pis statue.

A short walk away from La Grand Place, near the Central Station, there is a tunnel, where the ceiling is covered in an enormous mural of The Smurfs. I had no idea the Smurfs were created in Belgium! This one photo does not do this justice. It is large and contains many easter eggs related to Brussels.

I think I found these three, then I did not find any others the rest of the day, which spent being mesmerized by La Grand Place and the historical center.

I went back on my last day and figured out a route to find the other murals near the historical center. It was pouring rain on this day; luckily, I had an umbrella. I really wanted to find the one for XIII, which was near a cafe. Mostly the character resonated with me from the PS2 video game, but I started reading his adventures on this trip. It's a cool spy comic with some elements in common with the Bourne Identity.

The other one I had hoped to find was Young Albert. I have not read this strip but I love how the trams and trolleys operate in both Belgium and Amsterdam. It gives me a quaint European feeling that no American city does. There is a volume of this on Kindle Unlimited, so I will give that a read.

Here are some other photos I took...

It was all I could do to see these murals on my last day. We were worn out by the end of our two week trip. At least I had seen a majority of the murals in the historical center, although I missed a big one: Thorgal! You really have to plan out where you are walking in order to see these things. I had marked the Thorgal location on a map but I took a wrong turn and by the time I realized it, I was too far north and too exhausted to go back for it. I love barbarians but I don't have their stamina! However I did download a collection of Thorgal comics and will be reading those soon.

There are many more murals outside of La Grand Place - this site has a complete list of them. For example, in the Sainte-Catherine area, there is a Corto Maltese mural - I wish I had seen that. Hmmm...Hugo Pratt was not a Belgian, right, he was from Italy? Perhaps not all the murals feature characters by Belgian creators.

Walking around and ogling these photos, I felt kind of strange - I was apparently the only one on the street truly excited about seeing them. Everyone else was more interested in the pissing statue or eating a waffle.

I also ran across an advertisement for a Blacksad escape game!

Dylan Dog meets John Constantine

2024-06-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

I read the Batman / Dylan Dog limited series, three issues, all available now on the subscription service, DC Universe Infinite Ultra or whatever it is called. I've never read any Dylan Dog material before, I thought this was very good, apparently written and drawn by creators in Europe. Dylan's assistant Groucho (who resembles Groucho Marx) cracked me up - would this be possible with any modern celebrity?

The second issue of this team-up is the best, because it really doesn't involve Batman very much. The story is about Dylan Dog, who needs to take a trip to Hell to see if a serial killer named Killex is still there - or has his soul been called back to Earth? To accomplish this, Dylan Dog, who is in London, looks up John Constantine, Hellblazer. Constantine takes Dylan to Hell - but this version of Hell looks like the modern Piccadilly Circus!

This leads Constantine to reminisce about what this location was back in the good old days - the 1980s. I visited here around 1978 and remember it pretty much the way Constantine does. People were sitting around that fountain, eating fish and chips or smoking a cigarette. It was very busy but not overcrowded. When I re-visited this area in 2015, I was astonished at how commercialized the area was and people were swarming the streets. I imagine people have the same feelings about Times Square in NYC.

Constantine continues his take down on modern life, music and social media on the next page. Everybody has their own personal version of Hell - for Constantine, this is it, modern-technological Piccadilly Circus. Dylan rebuts this take-down on the next page, by calling Constantine a "boomer". Later in the story, they are aided by another supernatural DC character, The Demon.

All in all, this was a fun series and it was good to learn about Dylan Dog. Hardly any of his adventures seem to be translated to English. John Constantine was very entertaining in this second issue and is prompting me to re-read some of the other Vertigo stories.

It’s Superman by Tom De Haven

2023-03-06T15:58:00.001-08:00

I never thought I would rate a licensed Superman novel as high as this one, it’s right up there with Kavalier & Clay for me. It’s Superman by Tom De Haven was published in 2006 and it never registered on my radar until a few years ago, when Howard Chaykin (on his Facebook) recommended this - more than once!

If you’re a Superman fan and are okay with a revisionist take, this novel is for you. We’ve seen Superman as a young man in the Smallville TV show as well as in DC’s Superboy comics, where he was a teenager in the 1940s or 1950s. This novel places his teenage/early adulthood years in the late 1920s / 1930s, which lines up perfectly with the debut of Action Comics 1 in 1938. This is quite a mature and well researched novel; the author knows a tremendous amount of that era, from how people went to the movies on Saturdays to what they listened to on the radio. (I didn’t know, for example, that Les Paul sang under the name Rhubarb Red.) I laughed during one chapter where an inept kidnapper is frustrated finding a phone booth that works in these small towns. Clark Kent is the protagonist, a loving son and wannabe reporter, a country bumpkin once he leaves Smallville. During Clark’s early years we see Lex Luthor & Lois Lane, in New York City, where they bump into famous historical figures such as Mayor La Guardia. Lex has his own story arc, from small time criminal to becoming an NYC Alderman and an even bigger criminal mastermind. Willi Berg, a photographer who gets himself into more trouble than he can handle, is the first of Lois Lane’s boyfriends that we meet; if you’re into a saintly version of Lois, this will probably offend you, but it is a portrait of a very determined reporter. The Depression is plainly evident after Clark leaves Smallville and travels to other states, including Texas & California. There’s a slow burn before Clark flies or puts on a costume; the story is more about the Odyssey he goes on, but it still forges the same New Deal American hero that Siegel and Shuster created.

Scott Brick does a superb job on the audiobook, telling this story with different accents. I thought this is one of the very best novels I’ve listened to.

Nine Great Comic Book Artists from Silver/Bronze Age eras

2022-05-29T08:37:00.002-07:00

I saw this on Facebook and had to save it for posterity...

These are the artists of my formative years as a comic book fan, from 1969 to 1979. I shared this in the Jim Aparo Facebook group and people really went crazy for it. I am not sure who did the portraits, was it Alex Ross? I was very happy indeed to see Jim Aparo on this list, I loved his Batman in Brave and the Bold, and also his depictions of the Spectre and the Phantom Stranger.

Each of these creators are depicted with their most famous creations. Curt Swan may have drawn the first comic I had ever read - I was crazy about Superman as a kid and picked up Action Comics after seeing the Superman cartoon show. Neal Adams was not only famous for Batman but he was drawing tons of DC Comics covers, especially on Superman/Action Comics. Gil Kane was drawing Green Lantern for years, but I especially remembered seeing his covers on it when Donovan's Sunshine Superman was playing on the radio. And of course, I knew Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko from Marvel Comics, more so from the reprint comics that had early Fantastic Four and Spider-Man tales. John Buscema I knew from the FF and Conan. Joe Kubert was more of an acquired tasted as a young kid, but I got into him when DC took over the Tarzan license.

The Batman - Adam West vs Robert Pattinson

2022-04-24T19:22:00.004-07:00

I watched The Batman on HBO Max. I enjoyed it. The cinematography was superb and I loved the Riddler taken seriously. I liked the portrayal of Catwoman. Batman has never used his detective skills better than he does here. It had some elements from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman Year Zero and other things from The Long Halloween. Some stuff from Geoff Johns' Batman Earth One graphic novel as well.

I remember when the Christian Bale/Dark Knight Rises movie came out and Dial B for Blog photoshopped all these great posters featuring Caesar Romero as the Joker. Here's a great take on that theme, with Adam West in the new movie.

Spoilers...

Afterward I thought that Batman is not really that effective in the movie; he doesn't really trigger any meaningful change as he does in Year One, where he and Gordon partially clean up the Gotham police. What does the Batman really accomplish? The Riddler is more of a hero than Batman is, if we factor out his terrorist methodology, because he exposed the corruption and got rid of Falcone, Maroni and Colson. Batman punched a few criminals, helped Catwoman and saved people from drowning in the end. Once again, the villain is more important than Batman in this movie.

The other thing is going down the well-trod path of making his parents flawed. This also happened a few years ago in the Superman comics, where we found out Jor-El was a bit flawed.

Thomas Wayne was a billionaire, ergo, he must be slightly crooked? Thomas was a surgeon as well as a rich guy; I think when Batman started he was referred to more as a doctor with a trust fund, but the wealth grew as Batman was reinvented so many times. My first thought was, if I was Bruce Wayne - who idolized his parents and mourned them - and I just learned my father was working with gangsters, wouldn't that take away some of my motivation to be Batman?

After thinking of some of these elements that bothered me, I went and re-read Batman Year One again. What a masterpiece! Nuff Said.

Dresden Files: King-Size Deus Ex Machina special review

2020-11-15T10:58:00.002-08:00

Looking back here on my blog, I see that I discovered Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series back in 2010. At that point, it felt like modern/urban fantasy comfort food. A private detective who was a wizard, solving supernatural mysteries and fighting monsters. With a literal talking head, a skeleton named Bob, in Harry's basement, which Butcher created out of frustration in his creative writing class. I devoured the first ten novels the way a vampire might attack a blood bank. They had weaknesses for sure, namely that nearly every woman character central to the plot is described as hot as a Maxim model, and magical Deus Ex Machinas that arise to help Harry Dresden win big battles. But it was still fun, dumb fun to be sure, the equivalent of a comic book series, and I like comics!

But the latest Dresden novel, Battle Ground, may be the last one I read, because the cracks in the mystical armor are just too wide for me to ignore.

Fair Warning: There will be spoilers from here on out!

2020 was a long awaited year for Dresden fans. The last full length novel, Skin Game, was published in 2014; up to that point the fans were spoiled by having a new novel nearly every year. This year we had two new novels, the long awaited Peace Talks, followed by Battle Ground. After I had finished Peace Talks, I had the suspicion that both of these were conceived as one big novel, and split into two books, probably at the suggestion of Butcher's editor.

I enjoyed Peace Talks, perhaps more for seeing an old friend like Harry, after a six year absence. I had to look up things I forgot on the Dresden Files Wiki, like what was the name of that hitman who protected the Archive? (Answer: Kincaid)

There is one startling thing that happens early in Peace Talks: Harry finally has sex with Karrin Murphy, an ex-cop, who became his love interest over the last half dozen novels. My Spidey-Sense was activated when this happened. You may remember the ending of Changes, when it looked like Harry and Murphy would finally have a date (hey, forget about Susan, the mother of my child who just perished!) before Harry was shot. Now it finally happened, although poor Murphy was so injured after the events of Skin Game.

The main problem with Peace Talks is the heist sub-plot in the middle of the story, which is reminiscent of the previous novel, Skin Game. Instead of stealing an artifact, Harry smuggles his white vampire half-brother, Thomas (in prison for attempting to assassinate the Svartalf leader), out of Marcone's castle, with the goal of reaching sanctuary on his island in Lake Michigan, Demon Reach. It ends with a terrific battle between Harry and his grandfather, Ebenezar McCoy, except it isn't a real battle at all, but a fake-out straight from Rian Johnson's Last Jedi movie. It ends on a cliffhanger: Ethniu, the Last Titan, who made a startling appearance at Marcone's castle during the Peace Talks, is coming to lay waste to the city of Chicago.

Battle Ground takes place literally right afterward, as Harry makes his way back to Chicago from his island. The majority of the novel's events take place in the next 12 hours, one battle after another. There is an alliance of mystical forces, from Harry's own Winter Queen Mab, his arch enemy Marcone, the White Court of Vampires, the Council of Wizards, etc. On the enemy's side, it's the Fomor (aquatic beings), Ethniu the Last Titan (equipped with a nuke called the Eye of Balor), Black Court Vampires, Asgardian giants, etc - an overwhelming force, naturally. They are all fighting each other on the streets of Chicago. This becomes a bit tedious as it seems to be a loop of big battles, with this makeup:

Harry is tired, injured, still able to fight because the Winter Mantle dulls his pain.
A new enemy appears with powers far beyond Harry's level.
Harry gets tossed around like an old dishrag.
Some other character attacks and gives Harry a reprieve.
Harry makes a wisecrack.
Harry summons a Deus Ex Machina to vanquish the foe.

Rinse and Repeat for a dozen or so enemies. There are some variations, but that is the majority of the novel. Battle Ground is like a Marvel Comics King-Size annual where big things happen with guest stars galore. Many characters from previous novels show up here. It's appropriate to compare the Dresden Files to a comic book series, because Butcher often references Marvel Comics characters in the novel. Some people have compared it to Avengers: Endgame, but this book doesn't conclude anything like that film did.

The one superlative thing I'm going to say about Battle Ground is the audiobook version, narrated by James Marsters. He delivers an award winning performance here, with many different accents for the various characters. He elevates the pulp material with a layer of gravitas from his performance. If I continue on with Dresden it will be to hear Marsters again.

Somewhere in the middle of Battle Ground, Karrin Murphy dies. It's very upsetting; the emotion in Marsters' voice during these chapters is quite affecting. She dies after saving Harry, naturally, but killed not by the giant she slayed with a rocket launcher, but by a frightened police officer. It's a random, dumb death out of nowhere, a shocking moment, which is what Butcher probably wanted to achieve. Harry grieves for Murphy for a while, but a few chapters later, Harry is back to wisecracking again, which cheapens the trauma of Murphy's death.

What is more problematic is that you can see the writer's machinations behind Murphy's death and patterns emerging. Harry had a previous girlfriend, Susan Rodriguez, who perished (in a more epic way) in the novel Changes. Harry had been intimate with her as well and they have a child together, Maggie. The problem with a long running series is keeping things interesting and not having the main character romantically tied down. Most writers don't know how to make an ongoing relationship interesting in a story. The easy plot device is making characters attracted to each other, keeping them apart, getting them together and making the split apart, to pursue another love interest. We've seen this time and again on TV shows like Cheers or Moonlighting. Only on those shows, they don't kill someone off just to remove them as a romantic partner.

Butcher has lined up women for Harry already. One of them is Lara, head of the White Court Vampires (not blood suckers but emotion suckers), who practically gives Harry a dry hump in Peace Talks. In another scene Lara helps rescue Thomas (her half-brother as well) by stripping off her clothes; Harry is nearly overcome by lust, but he's not sure if it's because Lara is a vampire or because she has a smokin hot body. The other one is Molly Carpenter, Harry's former apprentice and now the Winter Lady. Harry has known Molly since she was a teenager, but there is an attraction between them which seems, well, just yucky.

As I read towards the end of Battle Ground, it seemed like Butcher removed Murphy to clear the playing field for Lara and Molly; that is exactly what happened in the end. Queen Mab, the Winter Queen, orders Harry to marry Lara, in order to cement the alliance between Winter and the White Court. Whether Harry complies or not remains to be seen, he has one year to decide. We see a touch of the Molly/Harry spark before the novel ends. We also get the foreshadowing that Murphy will return one day as a Valkyrie, which is kind of a consolation prize.

By the end of Battle Ground, I didn't feel like I had a true fictionally satisfying experience. Instead it felt like I watched someone play an RPG and move figures around on a board.

I think this series jumped the shark after Changes, which sets events in motion for Harry to become the Winter Knight. As the novels progressed, Butcher probably didn't want to write Harry as a private detective-wizard, or he was creating enemies for Harry that a normal wizard couldn't cope with. Butcher had to amp up the power level and the threat level as well. I preferred the earlier Dresden Files novels, because while the stories were fantastic, they felt more grounded in reality.

The Booksellers | Official Trailer

2020-09-29T11:50:00.002-07:00

This documentary about booksellers in New York City is now available for free on Amazon Prime. I've been tracking this since last year, glad to finally view it. I hope some of these people are still in business in 2020. While they are not all the books I like to collect, it is kind of a psychological study of why people collect books; the sellers are just as compelled as the buyers. There is a great quote from one seller about the nature of collectors:

"The world is divided into people who collect things and people who don't know what the hell these people are doing collecting things. If you're a collector you're a sick obsessive compulsive person, who would sell their grandmother to buy something they really like, even if it's an Elvis plate."

Supreme 50 and the Meta Commentary on Superhero Love

2020-09-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

I've been re-reading Alan Moore's Supreme run from the 1990s. If you're a Superman fan like me, who often wondered what would have happened if DC Comics let Moore run the Superman franchise instead of John Byrne, this series is in your wheelhouse.

Although I'm sure it benefits from Moore's hindsight, these stories are a salute to the era of Silver Age Superman. For the first nine issues, Moore doesn't get an artist worthy of his writing (for the present day sequences, Rick Veitch did a nice job on the flashback stories). Until issue 50, in 1997, when Chris Sprouse takes over.

Supreme's secret identity is Ethan, a comic book artist working on Omni-Man for Dazzle comics. His super speed powers are a huge benefit that any comics artist would love--it only takes him a few minutes to pencil an entire issue. Diana is the new writer assigned to Omni-Man, taking over for Billy Friday, a British writer resembling Grant Morrison. Moore has long had problems with Morrison, who he felt had stolen many things from Moore and his friend, Michael Moorcock. Friday, through his own Jimmy Olsen like incompetence is trapped in a prison of light, leaving the writing job free for Diana.

Diana and Ethan have been flirting for a few issues, leading up to this, their story conference which is also kind of a date. Moore gets to do this meta-commentary of superhero romance tropes, through Diana's voice, as Ethan struggles with how to make his first romantic move on Diana.

This is played between three flashback sequences, drawn by Veitch, basically showing you what would happen if Superman married Lois Lane, Wonder Woman, and Lori Lemaris. None of these end in contentment! In the case of the latter two women, marrying another super powered being results in super problems.

Diana speculates on the best love interest for Omni-Man, while Ethan tells her about Supreme's misadventures. On this page, Ethan is about to finally make his move, but Diana mentions the dishonesty of the hero keeping his identity secret. Diana also mentions the love scene that Steranko put into SHIELD, which was altered by Marvel editorial.

Buying these original issues in the 1990s, you had to be either a real die hard Moore fan or a Liefeld/Supreme fan. It was especially challenging if you were ordering from a mail order service and tracking these in Diamond Previews: Supreme 41-42 were published by Image Comics; Supreme 43-48 were published by Maximum Press; Supreme 49-56 were from Awesome Entertainment; after a publishing gap came Supreme the Return, issues 1-6.

Story recap pages from Marvel and DC Comics, from 1960s to 2018

2019-09-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Recap pages! Those introductory splash pages that try to summarize the continuing story for a new reader.

In earlier eras, comics were bound to a single story per issue, often there were 2 or 3 short tales per comic. When comic book stories became more serialized, editors were always afraid a new reader would be lost and stop buying that comic. In the modern era where a story arc goes over 6 issues minimum this has gone away. Starting in the Silver Age there have been a number of ways to catch the reader up on a story.

Stan Lee tried to do it in captions or thought balloons in Amazing Spider-Man 33 (1965, concluding chapter of the Master Planner story, see image on top of this post) and here with Amazing Spider-Man 109 (1972, second part of a story involving Flash Thompson). The captions have arrows showing you how to read them.

Jim Starlin used a new character called Sphinxor to retell the lengthy history of Adam Warlock in several pages of Strange Tales 179 (1975) - the first issue of his Warlock opus. Each issue of Strange Tales would have a dense recap page, which probably drove Starlin crazy to have to include.

In the late 1990s almost every Marvel Comic had a "Previously in..." page, sometimes on the inside front cover: Avengers v3 2 (1998). These were done using text and taking captions of artwork from previous issues.

Dark Knight over Metropolis, a DC story arc which crossed over between Action Comics, Superman and Adventures of Superman, each issue had a splash page with a dossier of memos explaining the story thus far. This was taken from Action Comics 654 (1990).

In Brian Bendis Action Comics he started off the first few stories with an image of papers/notes on the desk of a different character. This worked as both a recap and an insight to the particular character. It also has inside jokes and hints of things to come. This was taken from Action Comics 1002 (2018). This image is what prompted me to write this article - as I re-read the 1990s Action run I realized this new recap page had some elements in common with the old one.

Nuff Said!

Superman 13 (2019) cover progression by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado

2019-04-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

The upcoming to cover to Superman 13, shipping in July 2019, has an iconic cover by Ivan Reis and inker Joe Prado. The colors are by Alex Sinclair.

The image relates to the "Unity" storyline where Superman is leading an intergalactic band through the galaxy. I am sure this somehow culminates in the birth of the United Federation of Planets, leading to the Legion of Super-Heroes in the future.

Joe Prado shared some behind the scenes look at the inking of this page, which he does on blue line paper. First he starts with the main character of Superman...

Then he goes crazy inking the miscellaneous background characters. Notice that Superman himself does not have all the black ink inside his chest / arms yet.

...and finally there is the fully inked page with the planet / outer soace in the background, the black areas fully inked inside Superman. It pops and creates a depth of field in black and white, even more so in color!

These guys are some of my favorite artists at DC and they have been working there over a decade! Nuff Said.

SHAZAM! The Many Revisions of The Original Captain Marvel!

2019-04-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

The movie SHAZAM! is releasing this Friday, April 4th. I've got a case of Shazam fever, looking at various incarnations of The Big Red Cheese since DC Comics started publishing the character in 1973.

First, a word or two on the Golden Age Captain Marvel. Fawcett Comics was the original publisher, not DC Comics. He first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 in 1939 (cover dated Feb 1940). The concept was simple: an orphaned boy named Billy Batson takes an unearthly subway ride, where he meets the wizard Shazam. When Billy says the wizard's name, he transforms into the adult hero, Captain Marvel! He was almost launched as a character called Captain Thunder, but another company beat them to that name. Created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, the good Captain was an instant hit on the newsstands. He not only appeared in Whiz Comics but also Captain Marvel Adventures and Master Comics. Due to his popularity a 12 part movie serial, Adventures of Captain Marvel, was produced starring Tom Tyler.

He soon had a family to help him: first a crippled boy known as Freddy Freeman, who upon saying the name "Captain Marvel!" changed into Captain Marvel Jr., who was so popular that Elvis Presley modeled his look / hairstyle on this character. Captain Marvel Jr is a favorite among many fans because of his cool blue costume and the incredible artwork of Mac Raboy. Many iconic covers of this character are from the World War 2 era. About a year after Junior's debut, Mary Marvel was introduced in Captain Marvel Adventures 18 (1942). Mary was the long lost twin sister of Billy Batson and also able to use the word "Shazam" to transform into a hero. She was featured in Mary Marvel Comics and Wow Comics. Suddenly Billy Batson had a new found family with these two by his side, and there was another title called Marvel Family Comics.

What made the Marvels so popular? I believe it was Chip Kidd who said: "Superman was Power; Batman was Menace. Captain Marvel was Charm." Captain Marvel stories were fantastic in nature and also full of whimsy. There was Uncle Marvel, an overweight older guy who had no powers but pretended he did, doffing his street clothes to reveal his red uniform. Uncle Marvel, by the way, was the true hero of Marvel Family Comics #1, the first and only golden age appearance of Black Adam. There was also Mr. Tawky Tawny, a talking tiger who was a dapper dresser. One of my favorite stories has Tawny trying to lose weight with the assistance of Captain Marvel; unbeknownst to both of them, Tawny is hypnotized at night to eat a buffet table of food, spoiling all the benefits of his exercise regime. Many of the stories were written by Otto Binder, later a writer for Mort Weisinger on the Superman comics.

DC Comics launched a lawsuit against Fawcett for copyright infringement in 1941. This lawsuit dragged on for years. By the early 1950s, superhero comics were on the decline following the WW2 era. Combined with the lawsuit and declining sales, Fawcett took a settlement with DC Comics and agreed to stop publishing Captain Marvel. The last Fawcett publication featuring the Big Red Cheese was The Marvel Family #89 in January 1954. Strangely enough, only their silhouettes were on the cover along with the caption And Then There Were None!

Mar-Vell: Not the Captain Marvel we are talking about here!!

Between 1954 and 1973, there were no comics published with the Fawcett character Captain Marvel. What happened during this period of time? A little company called Marvel Comics became very popular. The publisher Martin Goodman decreed that they should publish a character with the name Captain Marvel in order to establish a trademark. From this point on, any comic featuring the original Captain Marvel would be unable to use that name on the cover.

20 years after he was last seen, DC Comics licensed the rights to Captain Marvel back from the company they previously sued, Fawcett.

SHAZAM #1 was the debut issue in 1973, with a cover by three artists: C.C. Beck, Murphy Anderson, and Nick Cardy. I am guessing Cardy must have designed the cover with Anderson inking over Superman to give him the standard "house" DC look. You will notice the subtitle here says "The Original Captain Marvel" but this was soon changed to "The World's Mightiest Mortal" due to legal action by Marvel Comics (protecting their acquired trademark). He was still called Captain Marvel in the stories. DC kept the continuity stretching back to the 1940s by giving CM his own Earth-S in the DC Multiverse. He would cross-over to meet (or fight) Superman and the Justice League.

Publisher Carmine Infantino was looking for a way to boost sales and hoping a revival of "The Original Captain Marvel" would be the way. Sadly, it was not as big a hit as Superman or Batman, with C.C. Beck leaving the series early on, due to disagreements with the stories by Denny O'Neill.

However, in terms of licensing and merchandising, it was probably was a success. In 1974, a Saturday morning live action SHAZAM! show was on Saturday mornings. It was successful enough to last three seasons. There is a great article on this show in Retro Fan #4 by Andy Mangels. There were three treasury sized SHAZAM Limited Collectors Editions published, each with great classic CM reprint material chosen by E Nelson Bridwell.

Shazam the color comic lasted until 1978. Stories continued after the title was cancelled, and he made various guest appearances. Then came the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986.

The Crisis led to SHAZAM! The New Beginning! by Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake in 1987. This version of Captain Marvel resided on the newly integrated Earth with Superman, the Justice League and other heroes. Thomas had long wanted to do a revamp of Captain Marvel and he had one important change to make. Previously, Captain Marvel and Billy were two separate people, though they shared speech patterns and attitudes. Captain Marvel was definitely an adult, not a goofball. As he says in the introduction on the first issue: "...in this first issue...we have a 15 year old Billy Batson who is definitely in command of the nigh-invulnerable body of Captain Marvel".

This change was immediately echoed post-Crisis in all DC Comics continuity. DC also gave Captain Marvel a prominent role in the newly rebooted universe. In the Legends six-part mini-series, Captain Marvel was introduced on par with Superman and Wonder Woman. Captain Marvel was part of the new Justice League International by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire. The humor centered around his youthful expressions, especially around Guy Gardner. This was definitely a kid feeling out of place among a super-team of adult powered heroes.

Looking at the various reboots of the character, you get the feeling that DC had never quite figured out how to properly exploit the character, which they had now fully bought from Fawcett. The post Crisis version lasted until 1994, when Jerry Ordway released The Power of Shazam hardcover graphic novel, which completely rebooted Captain Marvel yet again. The graphic novel itself was lushly illustrated by Jerry Ordway. I just noticed now that this is available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited. I haven't fully re-read this yet, but it seems a bit darker than most Captain Marvel tales. Black Adam's origin was changed so that he worked alongside Billy's parents on an archeological dig site, stabbing them to steal treasure and making orphans out of Billy and Mary.

The graphic novel was a precursor to The Power of Shazam monthly series in 1995. Jerry Ordway provided gorgeous covers for the series with interior art by Peter Krause and Mike Manley. This series lasted for four years. Jerry Ordway took over as penciller on issue 42, before the series ended with issue 47. A 48th issue was released as part of the Blackest Night event week in 2010.

Captain Marvel was a big part of the Kingdom Come prestige series in 1996, showing up to fight Superman as the world threatened to burn around them. An Elseworlds story written by Mark Waid and painted by Alex Ross, who definitely loves the Big Red Cheese. There have been numerous Superman vs Shazam battles since the character was introduced to the DCU. In this story he says the magic word "Shazam!" and dodges before the lightning strikes, having it hit and injure Superman (who is vulnerable to magic). This same trick was used in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon years later, in a slightly different way. Alex Ross and Paul Dini would later produce a treasury sized book called Shazam the Power of Hope in 2003.

In the next few years, Captain Marvel most notable appearances were in the JSA series written by Geoff Johns. I thought CM fit very well on this team, his personality much better alongside the Golden Age heroes. There was a charming infatuation the Captain had with Stargirl, a bit icky until she realized he was really Billy. The biggest addition to the Shazam mythos was the development of Black Adam's character, making him not a shallow villain but someone with a valid point of view. Black Adam started showing up in other series and DC events, turning him into one of DC's greatest conflicted characters. He was one of the main characters in the 2006-2007 52 weekly series, co-written by Geoff Johns, which also featured Mr Mind, a classic Shazam villain.

Judd Winick, a big fan of the Marvel Family (who had used Captain Marvel Jr for a while in his Outsiders series), launched The Trials of Shazam! in 2006. This attempted to shake up the status quo in many ways. The wizard Shazam had died after the Day of Vengeance mini series; Billy must become the wizard (even getting long white hair) while Freddy Freeman must take up his mantle on Earth. Another more important change was that Captain Marvel and the Rock of Eternity were now at the heart of the magic side of the DC universe. In this first issue, Zatanna makes an appearance. While Captain Marvel's stories always involved fantasy, this went a step beyond, involving him deeply in the magic cosmos of the DCU.

In 2007, DC published a four issue square bound mini-series by Jeff Smith: SHAZAM! The Monster Society of Evil. If the regular in-continuity Captain Marvel was now saddled with adult responsibilities, this new out of continuity story took Billy Batson back to his roots and made him younger than ever before. This pre-teen version of Billy, homeless and living in poverty, was drawn in a way that would be perfect for animation. I hadn't read this until last week, it is quite a fun read, and Mary Marvel shows up as well. This can also be found on Kindle Unlimited.

I think at this point you can see a lot of indecision on the part of DC editorial on how to handle the Shazam property. Is he for kids or adults? As time goes by, the answer is that any character can be targeted for any market: kids/pre-teens/late-teens to adults. As long as there is an imprint and branding, the characters are malleable. In 2008, a new series aimed at kids was launched from the Johnny DC imprint: Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! I have to admit this isn't my cup of tea, but for kids under 10, the artwork of Mike Kunkel might be the thing. It's drawn in a very manga/sketchy style, very light hearted and fun. This lasted 21 issues until 2010.

In 2011 there was not a relaunch but a re-imagining of the Shazam mythos in the Flashpoint mini-series by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. In this alternate version of DC's superheroes, Shazam is known as Captain Thunder (which was his original name in the ashcan of Whiz Comics 1). The powers of the gods reside not only in Billy, Mary and Freddy but also in new kids called Darla, Pedro and Eugene. When they say the word SHAZAM! they all transform into one being, Captain Thunder. When we read this at the time, we probably thought, okay, a cool alternative take on Shazam; it was also an evolutionary step towards the current version aimed at movie theaters.

Flashpoint was the trigger event for DC Comics New 52 relaunch. This came with brand new character designs for Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and many other characters. While Shazam was not part of the initial Justice League story, his new origin began serialization (as a backup feature) in JL issue 7 (2012), story by Geoff Johns, artwork by the incredible Gary Frank. This "New 52" origin serves as the basis for the story of the 2019 Shazam movie.

The look of the new character, now never to be called Captain Marvel or Captain Thunder again (his name is Shazam) was controversial for long time fans of the Big Red Cheese. The Golden Age costume for Captain Marvel was designed to make him look like a military man. His cape was clasped on one side and it dangled on one side. It was also very short. He had five rings on his arm bands, the mark of a captain. The folds of his boots are also very military like. Compare that to the Gary Frank costume: the cape is freakishly long and he now has a hood. The hood bothers me more than anything! The cape is held to his chest with two clasps (in the movie these have tiger images). Lightning pours out of his chest emblem and it glows with power even after the transformation. His boots also seem to have lights in them. Shazam also has the power the zap stuff with lightning, which never happened before. I am not sure why he needs this power. I guess it would help in a fight with Superman?

What the new Shazam does have in common with the earlier Roy Thomas reboot is that this is fully Billy in the body of a super powered adult. The new origin basically does read like a movie pitch or treatment: Big (the Tom Hanks movie) combined with super-heroic fun. And it is fun, if you can let go of the classic Captain Marvel look.

The Shazam origin story took a while to be completed. It ran in Justice League 7-11, then continued in the 0 issue (seen above), then resumed in JL 14-16, finally climaxing in JL 18-21. It has been collected in a couple of editions and reads much better in one sitting than over a year as it did back then. The story contained a big twist on the Shazam legend: Billy not only shares his magic powers with adopted sister Mary and friend Freddy Freeman - but also his new friends Darla, Eugene, and Pedro. These are the same names of the kids we saw in Flashpoint. It is a clever way to have kids from other backgrounds share the fun of transforming into an adult. In the comics this hasn't been fully explored yet, so we don't know what the differentiators are between their powers. We know Eugene has control over electronics, which some may consider a poor Asian stereotype. I think Darla is the cutest and in the movie she may work the best.

The one character design I cannot stand in the 2013 revision was my favorite from the Marvel Family: Freddy / Captain Marvel Jr. I cannot believe they turned him into a blond haired kid! The reason is probably from a design standpoint, they did it to differentiate him from Eugene (with dark hair) and Pedro (with brown hair).

This has led us to the newest ongoing Shazam series, launched in November 2018 last year. After the Shazam origin was finished in 2013, the character appeared in Justice League stories, and a regular ongoing was sure to follow. It took five years due to various scheduling issues. Gary Frank was working on Batman Earth One graphic novels and then went onto the Doomsday Clock miniseries which has had numerous delays. The new monthly Shazam series is drawn by Dale Eaglesham, a longtime Johns collaborator from his JSA days. The first story arc seems targeted right at the heart of young adult readers, where the Shazam family travels to the Magiclands to explore realms we haven't seen before in the DC Universe.

Finally, there is one more version of Captain Marvel that DC launched in 2014. Thunderworld Adventures 1 by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart. This was part of Morrison's Multiversity project, a device that allowed him to tell unique stories from one of the 52 Earths in DC's multiverse. Morrison placed Captain Marvel on Earth-5, which I think works best for the character, to operate on his own playing field where magic and whimsy can rule. If he wants to meet Superman he could always cross a dimensional barrier, like going on vacation. This story was full of action and great artwork. Sadly, I don't think we will see Earth-5 again any time soon, now that the monthly Shazam comic is being published.

I do like knowing there is a separate Earth out there, reserved for the adventures of the Big Red Cheese.

Nuff Said.

More fun with the Original Captain Marvel!

2019-03-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm obviously obsessed over the fact that Marvel's Captain Marvel and the DC Original Big Red Cheese are coming out at the same time. Just saw these two photoshopped comic book covers today!

A great take off on the classic Marvel cover, see below for that one. It's pretty well rendered, I wish I knew who the artist was. Someone pointed out this artist is better at drawing feet than Gene Colan was!

Marvel Super Heroes 12 from December 1967, original cover by Gene Colan.

A take off on the classic Flash of Two Worlds cover. If Carmine Infantino had a dollar every time this cover was homaged he would have been a wealthy man.

Nuff Said!

Brian Bolland's Detective Comics 1000 cover

2019-02-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

In a few weeks we will see the publication of Detective Comics 1000. With dozens of variant covers, per usual!

Brian Bolland's variant cover features a colorful look at Batman's rogues gallery. Bolland hasn't done much work lately, he's pretty much retired, but his skill is still tremendous. Does this cover seem somewhat familiar to you? It should.

It is based on an ad that Bolland did for Forbidden Planet, decades ago. It is quite a great store, I visited in London a few years ago.

The black and white version of this image was mocked up to resemble the ad.

The full image in black and white glory. Nuff Said!

Will the real Captain Marvel please stand up?

2019-02-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

Marvel's Captain Marvel (created in 1967) gets released on March 8th. DC Comics' Captain Marvel (created in 1939), aka Shazam, gets released on April 5th.

There is a history behind the original Big Red Cheese Captain Marvel and how Marvel Comics was able to attain the trademark in the 1960s which is explained well on MentalFloss. How ironic that both characters have movies made at the same time. Someone in the know put these two movie posters together inside a theater.

John Trumbull, a writer of comics history for Two Morrows, created this gag cover showing the various versions of Captain Marvel, which is hysterical! You've got the Big Red Cheese facing the four Marvel characters who had the name. Carol Danvers is wearing her Dave Cockrum designed costume which Brie Larson is glad she did not have to wear in the movie. There's the original Mar-Vell in both his costumes and Photon / Monica Rambeau as well.

Nuff Said!

Robin by Dave Itzkoff

2019-02-04T07:07:00.000-08:00

I recently read Robin by Dave Itzkoff, which was published in May 2018.

I think anyone who first saw Robin Williams doing standup during the 1970s or that first year of Mork and Mindy will never forget the impact he made. A rapid fire mouth & imagination, I laughed so hard. I took pride in the fact that he spent a lot of time in Northern California (high school in Marin, theater & stand up in San Francisco). I’ve always wondered about his marriages, friendships, career ups & downs. This book has all these details. Knowing how Williams took his own life, you see some warning signs with his substance abuse and problems with depression.

I really connected with the description of Robin's childhood / early teen years where he was mostly isolated in his room, playing with his collection of toy soldiers & figures (for me, comics and science fiction), watching comedy on TV and rehearsing bits on his own. One of my fond memories of my father was watching Jonathan Winters on TV and both of us laughing at Winters crazy humor and impressions. Robin Williams was watching those same shows and getting inspired to turn into a younger even more manic version of Jonathan Winters. And then, about to enter his later teens, Robin moves to California with his family and encounters a different type of world, just like I had done with my family.

Quite a few people that Itzkoff interviewed in the book felt that Robin kept his humor / impersonations as a way to distance himself from other people. I don't think that is a unique situation, many standup comics and people in the entertainment business display the same characteristics. The biography of Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin reported that he was much the same way.

You get a real sense of what it was like for Robin to work in Los Angeles during the Mork and Mindy years, working comedy clubs at night after the TV show, staying up until dawn partying in various adjacent towns, fueled by cocaine. The movie Popeye was supposed to launch Robin's movie career and it was a failure, a terrible mismatch directed by Robert Altman. He didn't really have a smash movie hit until Good Morning Vietnam in 1987, but along the way he did interesting work in films like World According to Garp, Awakenings and Moscow on the Hudson. After 1987 it seemed like Robin could do no wrong until the infamously bad Patch Adams movie in 1998.

The last few chapters are heartbreaking. On and off again bouts with alcohol and drugs took a toll on Robin's second marriage. He had a third wife and was happy for a while until Lewy Body disease affected him (which they initially thought was Parkinsons). Robin took a job on a TV sitcom, The Crazy Ones, mostly for the money, but it wasn't successful. I couldn't help but remember the movie Robin made with Bob Goldwaith called World's Greatest Dad. His son in that movie hangs himself in his room, much like Williams himself would do later on.

The book is not all sad, there were so many brilliant points in Robin's career and family life. If you're a fan like I was you will enjoy reading it. Nuff said.