Saturday, May 18, 2013

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 138


House ad for Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners #1 (June-July 1956); printed in Sugar and Spike #2 (June-July 1956)
Comic cover art: unknown artist
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp


Kick in the Crotch Month, Day 18: Bentley-23 Admires His Own Work


Panels from FF v.1 #19 (August 2012), script by Jonathan Hickman, pencils and inks by Gabriel Hernandez Walta, colors by Cris Peter, letters by Clayton Cowles

Friday, May 17, 2013

Separated at Birth: Why So Negative?

Resurrecting a Mighty Bully Feature of the not-so-distant past in order to celebrate, nay, laud the most fun comic cover of the week!

Left: Fantastic Four v.1 #109 (April 1971); pencils by John Buscema, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Sam Rosen
Right: FF v.2 #7 (July 2013); pencils and inks by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred (the signature reads "All Red Loves Buscema." Well, who doesn't?)

(Click picture to Ms. Thing*-size)

*The Sensational New Character Find of 2013!

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 137


House ad for Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment On Gotham one-shot (December 1991)
from Hellblazer #48 (December 1991)

Kick in the Crotch Month, Day 17: Happy Father's Day from Bentley-23


Panel from FF v.1 #18 (July 2012), script by Jonathan Hickman, pencils and inks by Nick Dragotta, colors by Chris Sotomayor, letters by Clayton Cowles

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Black Widow has somethink to tell you, dahlink

It may not look like it, but yes, that's actually Hawkeye and Black Widow in the panels below. This is the period of the Avengers when Clint had become Goliath and Natasha had become Super-Cocktail-Waitress-Woman. Anyway, the Black Widow has something to say, and by George, she's gonna say it!


Panels from Avengers v.1 #76 (May 1970), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Tom Palmer, letters by Sam Rosen

Yes, yes, but what is she going to say? For the benefits of those of you who are missing the next page in your Avengers comic book, here's a few of my suggestions as to Natasha Romanoff's very difficult, very next words!


Maybe she needs to speak the ultimate truth at the heart of the Marvel Universe:


Perhaps she's about to break the hearts of Hawkeye and most of the male population with a startling announcement!


Or perhaps just possibly she's hinting at the very first Marvel/DC crossover event.


Hey, why don't you try one? Go ahead, it'll be fine! I'll hold your ice cream cone while you're working on it. (Extra bonus points for mentioning "moose and squirrel!")


365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 136


House ad for Wonder Woman, Lois Lane and Supergirl (1973); printed in Love Stories #149 (March-April 1973)


Kick in the Crotch Month, Day 16: Bentley-23 Gets His Kicks


Panel from FF v.1 #15 (April 2012), script by Jonathan Hickman, pencils and inks by Nick Dragotta, colors by Chris Sotomayor, letters by Clayton Cowles

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Today in Comics History, May 15, 1982: Jessica Jones reads the biography of Andy Kaufman to her baby; everyone is saddened by it


from New Avengers (2005 series) #29 (Marvel, June 2007), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils and inks by Leinil Francis Yu, colors by Dave McCaig, letters by Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne

Today in Comics History, May 15, 2013: Wolverine finally remembers where he buried his Tamagotchi


from Wolverine and the X-Men (2011 series) #29 (Marvel, July 2013), script by Jason Aaron, pencils and inks by Ramón Pérez, colors by Laura Martin, letters by Joe Caramagna

Hey, this one isn't really comics history, because it takes place today! Yep, today, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, Wolverine and his students buried a time capsule on the grounds of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. This event was mandatory, which meant that none of them were able to duck out down to Salem Center for new comic book day. Hey, Quentin Quire needs that copy of Red Hood and the Outlaws #20, Logan! Geez.

On the other hand, since this scene is happening twenty-five years in the future, perhaps this post should be titled "Tomorrow in Comics History." Wait, on the other other hand, (as Arex might say) this scene takes place twenty-five years in the future but it's an event that happened today, so logically it should be "Yesterday in Comics History." On the other other other hand...

Ow. My little stuffed brain hurts. I bet Wolverine understands time travel a lot better.


from Age of Ultron #8 (Marvel, July 2013), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils and inks by Brandon Peterson, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Cory Petit

See?

Today in Comics History, May 15, 1959: Superman smooshes Lois and Lana into one girl and marries her*


from "Superman's Romance with Lana Lane!" in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane (1958 eries) #41 (DC, May 1963), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein

*This is not too far off from what happens in this book, actually.

Yes, truly, this was The Greatest Lois Lane Story Ever.

Kick in the Crotch Month, Day 15: Right in the magic family jewels


Panel from Sword of Sorcery v.2 #0 (November 2012), script by Christy Marx, pencils and inks by Aaron Lopresti, colors by Hi-Fi, letters by Rob Leigh

Today in Comics History, May 15: DC Comics editors chooses the new Batman costume


from Batman #405 (DC, March 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Ten of a Kind: I don't know much about art, but I nouveau what I like

Hey! I forgot to put up "Ten of a Kind" this past Sunday, so here it is today. Good news for all you Tuesday people!












(More Ten of a Kind here.)

Aside from art nouveau-inspired illustration on comic book covers, you'll find a lot of it in fan-made illustration and artwork. Here's a few of my favorites.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 134


House ad for World's Finest Comics #7 (Autumn 1942); printed in Detective Comics #68 (October 1942)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Jack Burnley
Ad designer and artist unknown?

Today in Comics History, May 14, 1961: Pretty much everybody is suspicious of the sham wedding


from Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #2 (DC, November 2012), script by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils and inks by Adam Hughes, colors by Laura Martin, letters by Steve Wands

Kick in the Crotch Month, Day 14: Eight Six Seven Five Three OH YI YI YI


Panel from Stormwatch (2011 New 52 series) #0 (November 2012), script by Peter Milligan, pencils and inks by Will Conrad, colors by Guy Major, letters by Rob Leigh

Monday, May 13, 2013

Vic 'n' Reed Go to Wimbledon


Panels re-edited from FF v.1 #2 (June 2011), script by Jonathan Hickman, pencils by Steve Epting, inks by Steve Epting and Rick Magyarl, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Rus Wooton

Today in Comics History, May 13, 2003: Twitter has still not been invented


from "Made of Wood, Part 3" in Detective Comics #786 (November 2003), script by Ed Brubaker, pencils by Patrick Zircher, inks by Aaron Sowd and Steve Bird, colors by Jason Wright, color separations by Wildstorm FX, letters by Todd Klein

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 133


House ad for Angel and the Ape #5 (July-August 1969); printed in House of Mystery #181 (July-August 1969)
Comic cover art: pencils by Bob Oksner
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Kick in the Crotch Month, Day 13: Plant your knee right there


Panels from Joker/Mask #3 (July 2000), script by Henry Gilroy, pencils by Ramon Bachs, inks by Howard Shum, colors by Dave McCaig, letters by Steve Dutro

Today in Comics History Future, May 13, 2446: The birth of Paris Hilton XVI


from Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 (DC, August 1985), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by George Perez, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by John Costanza

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Today in Comics History, May 12, 1959: Heisenberg's Theory of Indeterminacy is proven when Professor Glass's slide rule disappears from his pocket from one second to the next


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


from Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (DC, October 2012), script by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils and inks by Adam Hughes, colors by Laura Martin, letters by Steve Wands

It was a story so dramatic that it was reported on the national news!


from Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1 (DC, August 2012), script by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Andy Kubert, inks by Joe Kubert, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Nick Napolitano

Remember: future events such as these will affect you in the future!


from the Space Cabbie story "Through the Time Barrier!" in Mystery in Space #39 (DC, August 1957), script by Otto Binder, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Bernard Sachs

So yeah, another busy day in Comics History.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 132


House ad for 80-Page Giant Magazine #G-73 [aka Batman #223]
(July-August 1970); printed in Teen Titans v.1 #28 (July-August 1970)
Comic cover art: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Murphy Anderson
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Kick in the Crotch Month, Day 12: Hey, that was a perfectly legitimate shop-talking question


Panels from Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6 (March 2012), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils and inks by Chris Samnee, colors by Justin Ponsor, letters by Cory Petit