Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2019

SOME HORROR COMICS OF MINE

Here are the covers of some horror comics I have. I have more somewhere. If I find them before tomorrow, I will post them. Click on them to enlarge.










Saturday, July 7, 2018

R. I. P STEVE DITKO


Steve Ditko was one of the first comic book artist whose style I recognized without looking at the credits. Ditko's characters had skinny heads that were flat on the top. I first became aware of his name in a paperback collection of early Spider-Man stories.

Ditko helped create many famous characters for Marvel (Spider-Man & Dr. Strange), Charlton (Captain Atom & The Question) and D.C (The Creeper, Hawk & Dove, Shade the Changing Man). He also helped revived the Blue Beetle in the Silver Age (at Charlton) and even worked on two issues of Dell's Get Smart comic book.



Charlton reprinted this 50s sci-fi anthology after the success of Star Wars

from a Dell Get Smart comic book

As I've gotten older, I have issues with Ditko's Ayn Rand-fueled beliefs and his reclusive nature. Yet his work and contribution to the industry should not be overlooked on this account. He used the same storytelling ability on Max & 99's task of chewing licorice gumballs as he did Spider-Man trying to extricated himself from under a fallen piece of machinery. That is why he will be missed.
 

Saturday, April 1, 2017

THE BBC'S SWISS SPAGHETTI TREE HARVEST STORY IS THE GREATEST APRIL FOOL'S DAY JOKE EVER


This is the 60th anniversary of the greatest April Fool's Day joke ever by, of all people, the BBC News division. We studied this incident in my media and journalism courses at Missouri State University, back when it was Southwest Missouri State University. None of our professors had a copy of it. They assumed it was lost (kind of like early Doctor Who episodes). We can see it, thanks to YouTube.

On April 1st, 1957, the BBC news program, Panorama, ran a 3 minute story about the abundant harvest this spring on spaghetti trees in Switzerland.  It was narrated by the shows, usually serious host Richard Dimbleby. At the time, spaghetti and pasta were not foods that the British ate. The only way to get spaghetti, in the 1950s, in Great Britain was pre-cooked in a can with tomato sauce. People began calling the BBC to find out if they could grow it in their back yard.



Here is the full report. The only thing missing from this is Richard Dimbleby's tag at the end, saying into the camera, "And that is our program for today, April 1st, 1957."

Runners up on great April Fool's Day jokes would be when a reporter for an NBC affiliate in Missouri (John Pertzborn, I think), in the early 90s, profiled a couple that was receiving "left over" TV transmissions from the 1950s. I became suspect when it seemed everything they were watching was off at Goodtimes or Video Steve compilation tape. Another April Fool's joke in the Missouri media world was in the late 80s, when the then top rated Top 40 radio station in Springfield, Missouri, KWTO-FM Rock 99, announced it was going country and the DJs quit on-air. Also a few years ago, Northern Bath Tissue announced their "Rustic Weave Artisan Toilet Paper" in an online commercial (I love the look on that woman's face when she sits down). Also, comic fans used to laugh about the time Comic Shop News announced that D.C Comics had bought out Marvel Comics. This was before Warner Brothers bought out D.C and Marvel was bought out by Disney.

Happy April Fool's Day!    


Sunday, July 24, 2016

TARZAN AND THE IMPOSTERS


One of the big movie releases this summer has been The Legend of Tarzan. Reviews are mixed but it is another addition to the long history of one of the most famous adventure, literature characters of all time. The first Tarzan story, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, was published in a magazine in 1912. The first comic adaptation was in 1929 in a newspaper strip drawn by Hal Foster. Reprints began appearing in a new form of reading material called comic books. Later, original stories and adaptations of Burroughs stories began appearing in comic book form in 1947. From 1939 to 1972, Tarzan comics were published by Western Publishing, first under the Dell imprint, then Gold Key Comics imprint. Starting in 1972, Tarzan was published by DC Comics. Then in 1978 to 1979, the character went to Marvel.

There were also many Tarzan imposters, that sprang up with the popularity of comic books. In the mid 30s, Marvel launched a character in their pulp magazines known as Ka-Zar of the Hidden Jungle. They brought the character back in the 60s. Here are some Tarzan covers as well as some imitation jungle men and women. Incidentally, the Tarzan comic strip still appears in newspapers, thought Universal Features.



Sunday, November 1, 2015

70s HORROR COMICS




I bought these 70s horror comics last month, but thought I would wait until Halloween to share them with you (Sorry, I'm a few hours late).

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Carmine Infantino Passes Away at 87 - IGN



My all time favorite drawing by Infantino
Carmine Infantino Passes Away at 87 - IGN

NOTE: I wanted say that for me, Carmine Infantino was the artist behind what I consider the definative Batman. He made DC's Silver Age the greatest era in comic book history.
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