Archive for November, 2009
Micronauts #7, sort of…
Today I learned that you can go home again.
I would have been eight years old when I first saw the ad pictured above. I didn’t know Michael Golden by name, nor his inker Neal Adams, but the cover pictured here knocked my socks off (and even the copy on the ad rocks). There’s only one test for an effective comic book cover, and that’s if it makes you want to read the story inside; this one made a gigantic impression on young Craig. I had only picked up the first couple issues of Micronauts, and I was not yet the Man-Thing fan I would become about a decade hence, but the sheer coolness of this cover art filled me with nothing less than a burning desire to read this comic, it just looked so friggin’ awesome.
Marvel Comics was even kind enough to provide the date the issue was going to go on sale– right there near the bottom of the page, it says April 10th. I had a couple weeks to wait, but I marked my calendar and endured the days of anticipation that followed. While I looked ahead to that day, my older brother said something odd: “They probably won’t have it”, he told me. What a cruel thing to say to an eight year old who had been promised such a treasure. I don’t know what prompted him to tell me that. He had no special insight into Marvel’s network of distributors, the comic book ordering practices of the Groveport Pharmacy, or the demand that might await the copies of the magazine in question when it was removed from the bundle of new comics. Nevertheless, his pronouncement gnawed at the back of my mind even while the approaching date stoked the fires of my excitement at the thought of getting my hands on this beautiful, beautiful book.
Sure enough, I showed up at the store early on the appointed day and there was no Micronauts #7 to be found. I’m sure I found something to take home in its place, but the fact of my writing this passage three decades on illustrates the depth of the disappointment which filled my young heart. In 1979 there were no comic stores with back issue bins to be found, no conventions in the small burgs here in flyover country. A missed comic was lost to time, a dim memory of promise unfulfilled. At least that’s how it felt.
Years later I would occasionally find this ad in an old comic I was reading, making note of it with more than a little interest. I never actually got around to tracking down that particular issue, though it was always in the back of my mind that I had to one day. Recently while browsing eBay for something to spend a buck or two on, I came across a listing for this very book from Mile High Comics and decided to take the plunge. I would grant that saddened eight year old kneeling at the magazine rack his wish, albeit many years late, to finally hold that comic in his hands.
Of course, the intervening years bring a more jaded sensibility even to the most idealistic of fools. I knew when I placed my order that the renewed feeling of anticipation I felt would far surpass the actual payoff of reading the book. Built up in my mind as such a milestone in my earliest years as a comic reader, the actual comic was bound to fail to live up to the excitement I felt rippling through time. I only hoped it made for an enjoyable enough diversion when it arrived.
Today I came home after picking up my daughter from preschool and found the package from MHC waiting inside the door for me. More than a little delighted, I tore it open and pulled out the books inside. There was part three of the first JLA/JSA crossover I ever read, there was the first issue of Night Force… and there was a note from Mile High Comics, printed on a dot matrix printer, telling me they did not have Micronauts #7 in stock. For just a moment I thought I heard my brother laughing.
Nostalgia distorts memory, adding a rosy glow or exaggerated significance to all manner of experiences. Nevertheless, I’m remembering April 10th, 1979 with a powerful clarity on this day which so perfectly evokes the memory of not getting the same book as a child. Maybe I’ll try again when I’m 68.
(It’s worth noting that MHC gave me a refund and an additional credit for my troubles, so I could pick up another handful of books for the same price. I’ll hardly complain about the service itself… though a quick peek on eBay shows they returned Micronauts #7 to their active listings the very same day.)
Hope you’ve all had a good Turkey holiday. Here’s this weekend’s inter-company crossover is a veritable clash of the cash cows: the 1976 Superman vs. Spider-man.
The oversized one-shot was written by Gerry Conway, with art by Ross Andru. Neal Adams and John Romita provided some character touch-ups as well.
IDW’s solicitations for February 2010 are out, which means I can officially announce my next project for them: a Ghostbusters Valentine’s Day one-shot!
Ghostbusters Holiday Special: Tainted Love
Dara Naraghi (w) • Salgood Sam (a) • Salgood Sam, Nick Runge (c)
Love is in the air—literally!—as Winston befriends an attractive woman with a ghostly problem in her apartment. But trapping the love-struck apparition proves to be more complicated than the Ghostbusters originally thought. Can Winston step up and save the day? Just how far will Peter go to find a date? And do Ray and Egon ever stop to think about girls, or is it always about trans-dimensional ectoplasmic anomolies with those two?
FC • one-shot • 32 pages • $3.99
Artist Salgood Sam is turning in some great pages on this book. Check out his cover:
I always thought that Winston got short shrifted in the movies, so I wrote a Winston-centric story. It’s got ghosts, a love interest, and plenty of humor. Hopefully it’ll appeal to die hard GB fans as well as casual readers.
Ask your retailer to save you a copy: Diamond Order Code DEC09 0906
This weekend, let’s take another trip down (bad) memory lane to the bad girl craze in comics. And nobody brought the genre to the forefront of mainstream comics better than Image Comics studio/imprint, Top Cow comics. I present for your viewing pleasure, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider vs. The Wolf-Men.
Alternate titles considered, but ultimately rejected:
- Lara Croft: Helium Boobs vs. Witchblade’s Ass (oh, and some werewolves)
- Lara Croft: Leotard Queen vs. Witchblade with Porn-posing Action ™
- Lara Croft: Boob Raider vs. TNAblade (with some wolf-men thrown in for good measure)
- Lara Croft: Empowered Strong Independent Female Character with Guns vs. Some Monsters, featuring Empowered Strong Independent Female Character with Liquid Metal Bikini
Wheat Chex, Rice Chex and good, hot, Ralston present: Space Patrol! High adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space! Missions of daring in the name of interplanetary justice! Travel into the future with Buzz Corry, commander-in-chief of the Space Patrol!
Today we learned about sodium-potassium alloys.
We’ll be back in a moment with today’s exciting Space Patrol story: “The Lady from Venus!”
This is the best stuff ever for drawing. Watching a movie takes up too much of my visual attention. You can stream them right off of iTunes (if you do iTunes).
A “Geoffrey Tolle” had a letter to the editor in yesterday’s Dispatch. There couldn’t be two of them, could there?
The writer is decrying reefer madness in a story about a driver who was drunk and also high.
(Updated with link)
Via Slashfilm.com, only 2 of top 30 grossing films of the last 10 years are original ideas.
Think about that for a minute.
Only 2. Out of 30. And these films account for tens of billions of dollars of revenue in media and properties as pervasive as film, DVD releases, videogame spinoffs, t-shirts, graphic novel adaptations (and prequels and sequels), action figures, key chains, and on and on ad nauseam.
Only 2. Out of 30. Wow. What a wonderful world of influences we live in.
Originality strikes again!
Hey folks, I wanted to get the word out about a brand new indie/alternative comix and zine show being co-organized by friend-of-the-ferret John G. The show is called Genghis Con, and it will ake place in Cleveland 2 weeks from today, Saturday November 28, from noon – 6 pm.
They’ve got a nice little roundup of indie talent so far. I’ll be attending, along with fellow PANEListas Andy Bennett, Tom Williams, and perhaps a few others. Also exhibiting are S.P.A.C.E. show-runner Bob Corby, alt-weekly cartoonist Derf, Image and Dark Horse artist Andy MacDonald, and others. Be sure to check out the Genghis Con site for more info.
I know I brought up this comic recently in a conversation…I think it was with Matt Kish. Anyway, it fits in perfectly with our theme of titanic comic book crossovers for this weekly feature, so without further ado, I give you Robocop vs. Terminator:
This 4-issue limited series was written by Frank “I’m the god damn Batman!” Miller and drawn by Walt “Nobody will match my run on Thor” Simonson. I’ll be honest and admit that I don’t remember the exact details of the story, but I did buy, read, and actually enjoy this series quite a bit. At least, that’s how it is in my memory. But hey, how could you ever go wrong with Simonson art? And this was Frank before he went off the deep end or burned his brain cells out with drugs.
Hmmm, maybe I should dig this out of my longboxes and give it another read…