Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #1 features young, brash Superman
If you’re going to relaunch “Action Comics,” the granddaddy of all superhero comics, you should probably be prepared for some criticism. However, after reading the 2011 “Action Comics” #1 by Grant Morrison, Rags Morales and Rick Bryant, I can’t find much with which to take issue.
How Superman almost became a Marvel comic
Jim Shooter, former Marvel Editor-in-Chief, has a very interesting writeup on his blog about how Marvel Comics almost licensed the right to print comics starring DC characters from Warner Bros. in 1984.
The thinking at Warner at the time was that the real money was in licensing, and maybe Marvel could make more money publishing DC’s characters than DC could.
John Byrne desperately wanted to write and draw the series. Marvel saw huge potential profits. Unfortunately, Shooter said, a lawsuit from First Comics alleging anti-trust violations cooled Marvel’s ardor for expansion. Of course, a few years later, DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” gave DC a sales boost, and led to … John Byrne on Superman.
Interesting look at what might have been! Shooter says the plan would have called for Marvel to launch with seven titles: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, Justice League and Legion of Super Heroes, and build from there if sales warranted.
The entire story, with lots of details and some scanned memos from the time, is available at jimshooter.com.
- Matt Price
Robot 6 looks back at the summer of 1986
Robot 6′s Grumpy Old Fan column takes a look back at the last big DC relaunch, in the summer of 1986, and compares it to the summer of 2011.
Anyway, the summer of 1986 was bracketed by “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?” in May, andSuperman Volume 2 in September. In between was Byrne’s reboot miniseries Man of Steel, naturally; but also the start of Watchmen, at least one issue of The Dark Knight, and the all-star Batman #400 and Denny O’Neil becoming Bat-editor in #401. DC’s superhero books were opening up to the post-Crisis status quo, and things were starting to get interesting, even with “Batman: Year One” and the new Flash, Wonder Woman, and Justice League still months away. It was a remarkable period which, fervent desires notwithstanding, I’m not sure the publisher will ever duplicate.
Tom Bondurant writes that he was in 10th grade in 1986, which seems like pretty great timing to create a lifelong comics fan. I picked up those 1986 books piecemeal over the course of my early comics collecting, which didn’t start in earnest until probably 1987. (I’ve read comics since maybe 1978, but wasn’t that organized of a collector until I got a little older.)
Bondurant writes an interesting piece encouraging everybody to enjoy the anticipation as we lead up to next week’s relaunch. He also points out the many, many differences between the two eras. It will be a good thing for DC if the new relaunch can come close to the excitement generated in 1986.
- Matt Price
Celebrating Batman artist Jim Aparo
Tony Isabella points out on his facebook page that today is the birthday of the late Jim Aparo, one of the finest Batman artists of the 20th century. Aparo died in 2005.
Aparo worked under editor Dick Giordano at Charlton, then followed Giordano to DC Comics. Aparo worked on Aquaman, Brave and Bold, Batman and the Outsiders, Detective Comics, and many more. In the 1980s, he was the artist responsible for the “Death in the Family” storyline in which the second Robin, Jason Todd, was killed. In the 1990s, he pencilled “Batman” #497, the part of the “Knightfall” storyline in which Batman’s back was broken by the villain Bane.
Aparo was one of a very few artists who would pencil, ink and letter his own work.
Two Morrows has an interview on its web site from the magazine Comic Book Artist with Aparo from 2000.
A hardcover collection of some of Jim Aparo’s Batman comics is set for release in April, 2012. According to the blog “The Brave and the Old,” a collection of “Phantom” comics featuring Aparo’s work is set for November of this year.
- Matt Price
Click past the cut for more Jim Aparo comics.
Conan the Barbarian has long past in pulps, comics
On the hot plains of Texas, in the wildcatting town of Cross Plains, a barbarian was born who has now lived in our imaginations for nearly 80 years.
Robert E. Howard, the author and creator of “Conan,” launched the character in the 1932 issue of the pulp magazine “Weird Tales.” Howard was born in Peaster, Texas, in 1906 and lived in Texas and western Oklahoma as a youth before settling in Cross Plains, Texas, in 1919.
Miles Morales Ultimate Comics Spider-Man variant revealed by Marvel
Marvel Comics has revealed the above variant for “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” No. 1, shipping on Sept. 7. Artist Sara Pichelli provides an unmasked Miles Morales on the cover of the relaunched Ultimate Comics Spider-Man title, written by Brian Michael Bendis.
Morales, the new Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe, is a half-black, half-Hispanic teenager.
“He’s younger than Peter Parker, he’s coming from a completely different background, a completely different world view,” Bendis said in a recent Associated Press interview. “It’s Peter Parker’s death that inspires this kid to step up.”
The Ultimate universe Peter Parker died in “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” No. 160.
- Matt Price
Happy 50th birthday, Fantastic Four!
According to The Beat and other sources, “Fantastic Four” #1, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, shipped 50 years ago today, Aug. 8, 1961, kicking off the Marvel Age of Comics! Way to go, Stan and Jack! Thanks for all the great comics.
Check out the Kirby Museum for more about Jack Kirby. Stan Lee can be found online at POW! Entertainment and on twitter. Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four page can be found at the Marvel site.
The Lee-Kirby run on “Fantastic Four” is rightly remembered as a high water mark for comics at the time, and it certainly changed much of what came after. If you’ve never read any, I recommend making the time.
- Matt Price
Oklahoma author Marc DiPaolo weighs in on new Ultimate Spider-Man
Nerdage reached out to Oklahoma City University’s Marc DiPaolo, author of the book “War, Politics, and Superheroes,” for his take on the new Spider-Man in “Ultimate Spider-Man.” POSSIBLE SPOILER: Miles Morales takes on the role of Spider-Man in “Ultimate Fallout” #4, on sale now.
Norman’s Atomik Pop to close
Norman’s Atomik Pop, 918 W Main, closes Saturday after 27 years in business.
The store, previously known as Planet Comics and Southside Comics, reached new heights in popularity during the manga boom of the 2000s. But manager Bart Bush said via facebook that the economy, changes in consumer buying habits and overall rising expenses have led to the need to close the store. The Atomik Pop in Oklahoma City, 7884 S. Western, will remain open.
Full disclosure note: I am one of the owners of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman, and so a lot of people would consider me to be in competition with Atomik Pop. I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always felt that Bart and his group were almost like teammates trying to raise the tide of comics in Norman with us. I’ve been deeply saddened by the store’s impending closure. There are few people in the state – heck, probably in the world – with the knowledge of Golden Age comics, early comics retail and comic book history like Bart, who opened the first comic shop in the state back in 1974. Atomik Pop owner Steve Richter also deserves credit for his years of making Atomik Pop a go-to destination store.
I told Bart personally, but I’ll also say publicly – the city will be worse off without Atomik Pop, which provided many fans their first comic-book exposure via its high-traffic location across from Norman High School. I even give Bart credit for my Jim Starlin fandom, as I’m pretty sure it was him who sold me on “Silver Surfer” back in the early 1990s. (I didn’t confirm this with him, so it could be faulty memory talking.)
My best wishes to the employees and customers of Atomik Pop. It’s always sad to see a favorite location close, and I encourage everyone to cherish their memories of it. I know that I will.
- Matt Price
Captain America movie-watchers can choose from 70 years of Marvel Comics
If watching Chris Evans as Captain America take on Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull in this week’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” film whets your appetite for more of the star-spangled hero, you’re in luck. Marvel Comics has several trade paperback and hardcover editions in print collecting the hero’s adventures.
