Saturday, November 24, 2012

Same Story, Different Cover: You might want to consider gluing that thing down, Pete


Left: Amazing Spider-Man v.1 #12 (May 1964); pencils and inks by Steve Ditko; colors by Stan Goldberg; letters by Artie Simek
Middle: Spider-Man Comics Weekly #4 (March 10, 1973); pencils by Jim Starlin, inks by Mike Esposito
Right: Spider-Man Classics #13 (April 1994); pencils by Chris Sprouse, inks by Harry Candelario

(Click picture to eight-arms-to-hold-you-size)


366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 329


Page from "Monkey Magic, Part One" in Tiny Titans #9 (December 2008); script by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani; pencils, inks, colors and letters by Art Baltazar



More Cow/Bull Month, Day 24: Thank goodness for his Sears Toughskins


Panels from "The Origin of Superboy's Costume!" in Superboy v.1 #78 (January 1960), pencils and inks by John Sikela

More Kal versus Bull action tomorrow!


Friday, November 23, 2012

B.W.A.


Panel from "The Outlaw Batman" in Detective Comics #228 (February 1956), pencils by Bob Kane, inks by Charles Paris



366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 328


Page from Batman #450 (Early July 1990), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Jim Aparo, inks by Mike DeCarlo, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza



More Cow/Bull Month, Day 23: Man, that is one giant chicken.


Panel portion from Howard the Duck [Magazine] #1 (October 1979), script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Michael Golden, inks by Klaus Janson, letters by Joe Rosen



Today in Comics History, November 23: Edie Sawyer fails to notice Dan Didio wants his check


from X-Statix #10 (Marvel, June 2003), script by Peter Milligan, pencils and inks by Philip Bond, colors by Laura Allred, letters by Nate Piekos

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Today in Comics History, Thanksgiving Day: The Turkey/Lingerie Burglar strikes yet again


from Batman: Dark Victory #2 (DC, January 2000), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, separations by Heroic Age, letters by Richard Starkings

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 327 (and Today in Comics History, Thanksgiving Day)


from Batman: Dark Victory #2 (DC, January 2000), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, separations by Heroic Age, letters by Richard Starkings,

Today in Comics History, Thanksgiving Day: What is Stan Lee thankful for?

Basically, the continued and ongoing success of Marvel Comics.


"Stan's Soapbox" from Marvel Comics cover-dated February 1976

And also for the success of his new comic, Stan Lee's Mighty 7, now available from Stan Lee Comics where ever fine comics are sold, True Believers!


from Stan Lee's Mighty 7 #3 (Archie, September 2012), script by Tony Blake and Paul Jackson with Stan Lee, pencils by Alex Saviuk, inks by Bob Smith, colors by Digikore STudios, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, Thanksgiving Day: Thanksgiving was sure a nice occasion at Xavier's...

...that is, until Jean and Banshee and Psylocke died, Angel got his memory erased, Jubilee lost her powers and became a vampire, Beast turned into a big lion, Storm got unceremoniously divorced, most of the mutant race was decimated*, and Cyclops started sleeping with one of the X-Men's arch-enemies, went insane and killed Professor X.

from Uncanny X-Men (1963 series) #308 (Marvel, January 1994), script by Scott Lobdell, pencils by John Romita Jr., inks by Dan Green and Al Vey, colors by Steve Buccellato, letters by Chris Eliopoulos
(Click picture to 50-pound-turkey-size)

Aside from that, it's pretty much the same Thanksgiving this year.

*Actual definition of "decimated" not used here.

Today in Comics History, November 22, 1959: First appearance, Dr. Manhattan's blue penis


from Watchmen #4 (DC, December 1986), script by Alan Moore; pencils, inks and letters by Dave Gibbons; colors by John Higgins

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 22: Udderly Ridiculous


Panel from Spider-Man: The Short Halloween one-shot (July 2009), script by Bill Hader and Seth Meyers, pencils and inks by Kevin Maguire, colors by Dean White, letters by Chris Eliopoulos



(Thanksgiving) Ten of a Kind #355: Cold turkey has got me on the run

Hey look! It’s the Thanksgiving Ten of a Kind I meant to post last Sunday!











Extra helpings of turkey over here on the sideboard!: 2008200920102011 . And if you're not stuffed yet, there's even more Ten of a Kind here.)

Today in Comics History, November 22, 2003: Sensational headline does not require news story


from Batman: Orphans #2 (DC, February 2001), script by Eddie Berganza, pencils by Carlo Barberi, inks by Juan Vlasco, colors by Chuck Pires and Michael J. DiMotta, letters by John Workman, Jr.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Today in Comics History, Day Before Thanksgiving: That one guy's teeth fall out


from Legends of the DC Universe #14 (DC, March 1999), script by Mark Evanier, pencils by Steve Rude, inks by Bill Reinhold, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein

How Many X-Men Comics Were Released This Week? (11/21/12)

Since big numbers can be confusing to me (hey, I only have four hooves to count on!), I ask for the help of my good friend The Count from Sesame Street to help me out in finding How Many X-Men Comics Were Released This Week? Take it away, Count!


Panels from [Uncanny] X-Men Annual #6 (1982), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Bill Sienkiewicz, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Tom Orzechowski, re-dialoguing and re-lettering by Bully the Little Stuffed Bull


Whoops! As Buffy herself has so handily pointed out there off-screen, wrong Count. I've made another one of my silly mistakes. Still, big guy's got a point (or two), doesn't he? How Many X-Men Comics Were Released This Week? Why, there were...



  • Astonishing X-Men #56: The aftermath to Northstar's wedding continues, interminably, but hey! Ice-Gambit is in this issue! What? He isn't? He's only on the cover? We demand Ice-Gambit get his own series!
  • Ultimate Comics X-Men #15.1: Say that three times fast! And hey, this issue is apparently all about a staring contest. Say, what if™ those Point One issues had existed all through the history of Marvel? I bet FF #51 would have been #50.1. And that would be criminal.
  • Uncanny X-Force #34: Hey, Wolverine is in this one! That's always a nice thing...
  • Wolverine #316: ...because there's no such thing as too much Wolverine...
  • Wolverine and the X-Men #21: ...at least, until you hit this Wolverine:

  • X-Factor #247: The field has been narrowed down to the top ten! Who will fall by the wayside and who will be the #1 choice? Tune in Thursday at 8 PM, 7 PM Central on FOX to see Cher Lloyd perform and to find out which two acts head home. That's right, two heads are on the chopping block on Thanksgiving night! Join Simon, Britney and Demi as they...wait a minute. Wrong X-Factor. I've made another one of my silly mistakes. Boy, is my face red.

Next week: more X-Men comics? How many? Well, you'll just have to be here to find out, once again...How Many X-Men Comics Were Released This Week?


Today in Comics History, November 21, 1988: The phrase "Dave's not here, man," is invented


from iZombie #2 (DC/Vertigo, August 2010), script by Chris Roberson, pencils and inks by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred, letters by Todd Klein

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 326


from Batman: Dark Victory #2 (DC, January 2000), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, separations by Heroic Age, letters by Richard Starkings

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 21: Steam-Powered Bulls



Splash page and panels from "No One Must Know" in Detective Comics #94 (December 1944), script by Bill Finger, layouts by Ed Kressy, finishes and letters by Dick Sprang



Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Today in Comics History, Day Before Thanksgiving: Commissioner Gordon strikes out...again


from Batman: Dark Victory #2 (DC, January 2000), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, color separations by Heroic Age, letters by Richard Starkings

It's a small world, but somebody's got to save it

Take a second to zip on over to my pal Dave Lartigue's Dave Ex Machina blog entry for today and check out the portrait of a young Dave wearing a towel (man, that Dave is one hoopy frood!) and holding a copy of the programme from the 20th Anniversary Doctor Who Celebration convention at Longleat House in the UK. This con was held April 3 and 4, 1983, which was a long time ago. So how do I know what it is Dave's holding? Why, because I have the very same thing:


How'd I get my hooves on this piece of Whovian history? Because my best pal John was there at the very place on April 3, 1983! And here he is!


It was the first Doctor Who convention he'd ever been at and he had a wonderful time! Here's Stately (Marquis of) Bath Manor, otherwise known as Longleat House:


Here's a pretty good shot, considering John's terrible camera, of then-current Doctor Peter Davison greeting the crowd:


And yes, that convention did take place on Sunday April 3 and Monday April 4. A con on a Monday? Well, yeah: in 1983, Easter was on April 3, and the day after Easter in the UK is a Bank Holiday, which means all the banks go out on vacation and go to the rocky, stony beach, so everybody else gets a day off too!

One more interesting note: although the programme clearly says Longleat House is located in Wiltshire County in the UK, modern references on Longleat indicate it's in Somerset County. I'm guessing that the county borders shifted over the past 29 years and Somerset swallowed up Longleat. Anybody know for sure?

Anyway, to answer your burning question: no, yours little stuffed truly was not there as I'm only six (which is a very good age to be) and I didn't get to be John's pal until much, much later. But I wish I could have gone to the 1983 Doctor Who Celebration! On the other hand, I have (much more recently) been riding on a Dalek, which is more than John can say.






366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 325


Panels from World's Finest Comics #248 (December 1977-January 1978), script by Bob Haney, pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger, inks by Tex Blaisdell, colors by Jerry Serpe, letters by Ben Oda

More Cow/Bull Month, Day 20: The world couldn't help but be amazed how one little cow started such a blaze



Panels from "Krypto's Three Amazing Transformations!" in Superboy v.1 #111 (March 1964), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils and inks by George Papp



Monday, November 19, 2012

Star Wars Cosplay Theater: Kraven Some Solo Excitement?

And now it's time for another exciting, not-approved-by-Disney episode of


Tonight, the spotlight falls on Kraven the Hunter (and hurts his head) as he chooses to cosplay his favorite character from the Star Wars Saga. No, it's not Boba Fett. Kraven believes, as do all of us here at Comics Oughta Be Fun, that Boba Fett went out like a chump. Instead, Sergei Kravinoff is a big fan of Harrison Ford, and it's not for his role in Hollywood Homicide. Take it away, Kraven, baby!


Panels from The Incredible Hulk v.4 #11 (September 2012), script by Jason Aaron, pencils by Carlos Pacheco, inks by Roger Bonet, colors by Frank Martin, letters by Chris Eliopoulos


Thanks a lot, big guy! Hope you can pop back and do more Star Wars cosplay...we're certainly "kraven" some more! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!


366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 324


Panel from The New Teen Titans v.2 #18 (March 1986), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Ed Barreto, inks by Romeo Tanghal, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza



More Cow/Bull Month, Day 19: Are You Bulls Ready for a Rummmmble?


Splash page from Armageddon: The Alien Agenda #3 (January 1992), script by Jonathan Peterson, pencils by Alan Weiss, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Tom McCraw, letters by Albert De Guzman



Sunday, November 18, 2012

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 323


Panels from "Batman" in Solo #12 (October 2006), by Brendan McCarthy, written with Robbie Morrison, drawn with Sir Trevor Goring



More Cow/Bull Month, Day 18: Quite Possibly the Only Way to Improve on Wolverine


Panel from Wolverine: Origins #23 (May 2008), script by Daniel Way, pencils and inks by Steve Dillon, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Cory Petit