Saturday, May 07, 2011

Same Story, Different Cover: Every time you break a hydraulic vise, you make the Giant Floating Head of Storm cry


L: [Uncanny] X-Men #122 (June 1979), art by Dave Cockrum and Terry Austin
R: Classic X-Men #28 (December 1988), art by Kieron Dwyer and Terry Austin

(Click picture to Giant Floating Head of Storm-size)



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 127


Panel from Dazzler #16 (June 1982), script by Danny Fingeroth, pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Janice Chiang



Friday, May 06, 2011

The Zen of Batman: Time


from Batman "The Joker's Provokers" (November 17, 1966), written by Charles Hoffman and Jay Thompson



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 126


Hogun the Grim (Tadanobu Asano), Fandral the Dashing (Joshua Dallas), and Volstagg the Voluminous (Ray Stevenson)
from Thor (2011), directed by Kenneth Branagh



The Many Moods of Roy Rogers, Day 5

Mood #5: Enjoying the Good Company of a Little Cute Bull




Thursday, May 05, 2011

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Is this really made out of moles?
A special birthday drink. Hic!



365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 125


Double-page splash from Thor v.2 #82 (September 2004), script by Michael Avon Oeming and Daniel Berman, pencils and inks by Andrea DiVito, colors by Laura Villari, letters by Randy Gentile

(Click picture to Raganok-size)



The Many Moods of Roy Rogers, Day 4

Mood #4: Casually Leaning, With Revolver




Today in Comics History, May 5, 2001: Hermione Granger's transfer to UDub has not been entirely successful


from The Invisibles (1999 series) #2 (May 2000), script and pencils by Grant Morrison, inks by Cameron Stewart, colors by Daniel Vozzo, color separations by Digital Chameleon, letters by Todd Klein

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Great comic book fans of the twentieth century










365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 124


Panels from Silver Surfer #4 (February 1969), script by Stan Lee, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Sal Buscema, letters by Artie Simek



The Many Moods of Roy Rogers, Day 3

Mood #3: Casually Leaning




Tuesday, May 03, 2011

You, Too, Can Draw Comics Like the Masters!












365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 123


Panels from Thor #337 (November 1983), script, pencils, and inks by Walt Simonson, colors by George Roussos, letters by John Workman, Jr.



The Many Moods of Roy Rogers, Day 2

Mood #2: Casually Leaning




Monday, May 02, 2011

Credit where credit is due

As I think you all know about your little stuffed truly, I have a couple of little peccadillos:



I also have some specific picky little traits. One of them is, whenever I use a comic book panel or cover in my blog, I try to give the creators of that image credit:


Cover of Detective Comics #566 (September 1986), pencilled and inked by Dick Giordano


See? Like that.

Not entirely un-coincidentally, I recently was shopping at Target and picked up this keen Detective Comics #566 t-shirt. It's a wee bit big for me, but these things shrink in the wash, right?



It's an officially licensed product from DC Comics. In fact, as far as I can tell from the label, it's specifically created by DC:



Here, you can pick one up for yourself at Target or Amazon.com! Buy two, buy several, buy one for the dog!




But wait! Let's take a lookee-lou comparison between the original comic book and the wearable version. Aside from the artistic convention of turning the t-shirt into a brighter red and fading the image at the edges, there's some noticeable differences from the "C" to the "T." For example: the original UPC code/promo box in the corner of the comic cover has been removed, although you can see the shadow remnants of the box if you examine the shirt carefully.



Well, two years after that movie, I guess we don't need to know who watches the Watchmen anyway. Answer: viewers of HBO2 at 3:30 in the morning. (And just for completion's sake, here's a version of the comic book with the newsstand UPC code:)



They've also simplified and changed the pricing box. And yes, removed the CCA symbol. Look out, kids: this shirt is not approved by the Comics Code Authority!



Missing from the shirt are the credits of the comic book itself. No wearing Doug Moench, Gene Colan, or Bob Smith's names on your chest, uh uh!



But here's the omission on the t-shirt that actually does bother me the most. The creator of this work of art, the fantastic Dick Giordano...his signature on the comic has been erased from the t-shirt.



Fer shame, DC T-shirts. Sure, I know that as a cover done as work-for-hire, Mr. Giordano probably isn't entitled to any compensation for reproduction of his work, but to erase the man's name from the image...fer shame, fer shame.

Now, I'm a downhome littlestuffed bull without a degree in copyright law, but what I do know is this: in this day and age of progressive creator's rights, why revert to the practice of yesteryear and reverse decades of progress by removing the artist's name from a reproduction of his work? Leaving the signature in would have been inobtrusive, I think, but it's not there.

I've a big fan of giving credit where credit is due. So if you see a little stuffed bull wandering around Brooklyn wearing a slightly-too-large red Batman t-shirt, be sure to check the back where I've spray-painted ART BY DICK GIORDANO just to set the record straight.

Batman...and Dick Giordano...deserve that, at least.

365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 122


Page from Marvel Fanfare #13 (March 1984), script by Alan Zelenetz, pencils and inks by Charles Vess, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Jim Novak

The Many Moods of Roy Rogers, Day 1

The Mid-Day Matinee this week, all week: The Many Moods of Roy Rogers! Sit back, enjoy your roast beef sandwich, and check out the world's greatest and most versatile cowboy!

Mood #1: Casually Leaning




Sunday, May 01, 2011