Well, Almost Never...

From BATMAN #15 (Feb/Mar 1943):

And... the cover to BATMAN #15:

Maybe it's just me...

DC Comics Slurpee Checklist!

Oh my gosh! Remember these? (Well, all you old timers [lol], obviously the youngsters won't) I was cleaning up some crap on my computer and came upon this pic. I don't know how long I've had it or where I found it, but I had totally forgotten about it. It's so awesome. I drank so many Slurpees that year. (Okay, I drank a lot of Slurpees all the time, 7-11 was like my second home. Where else was I gonna get my comics!!?)But these cups were awesome! I wish I still had mine. Hm, I might still at my dad's house. But I'm sure they're in crap condition. I just checked on eBay, and they go for like $10 a pop. And I'll bet you wouldn't find one in excellent condition. I want those damn cups!!

Especially "Ms. Shazam" and "Shazam Jr." Heh.

The Perplexity of Rainbow Boy

Rainbow Boy is quite the interesting character.

His name and the fact that his power is "the brilliance of [his] rainbow..." all point to one thing. He's got to be gay.

I've known quite a few gay men who seem to have that power.

The problem is that rainbows didn't become "gay" until around 1978, and Rainbow Boy debuted in 1942. So the whole rainbow motif doesn't really support any conjecture on that part.

What does make a case for his fairy-ness is that fact that every time he enters a room, he comes flitting in like he's doing some ballet:

Please, girlfriend.
Hydroman and Gruno don't seem too thrilled by his flamboyance...

One the other hand: Rainbow Boy is a DICK!

In the story I ran a few weeks back, Rainbow Boy helps save the earth from invasion by kidnapping the alien general and taking him around to show how being a dictator is a bad thing. Here's a look at the horrors they encountered:

Now the problem with this is... Rainbow Boy let all those people DIE!

Yes, he is trying to prove a point, but couldn't he have proven it by "Look at what they're about to do...now excuse me while I go rescue those people!" But he makes no attempt. I'm surprised he didn't bring along popcorn for the show.

And he's practically smiling in panel four when he says, "I'm going to show you more!" With an explanation point...

Yippee! Let's go!!

Rainbow Boy is a bad bad person. He may have saved the world from an alien attack, but my conclusion is he's still to evil too be gay.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

DC Covers and Solicitations, November 2008

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #23
Written by Andrew Kreisberg
Art by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens
Cover by Stephane Roux
For my money, Stephane Roux draws the best Joker out there. He brings just the right amount of Brian Bolland and Jim Lee into the mix, that it seems like the definitive thing to me. Amazing.

DC COMICS CLASSICS LIBRARY: SUPERMAN "KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE!" HC
Written by Dennis O’Neil
Art by Curt Swan & Murphy Anderson
Cover by Neal Adams, Curt Swan & Murphy Anderson
I do like this cover, but that's not why this is here. It's because of this: "The first in the new DC COMICS CLASSICS LIBRARY line collecting memorable tales in their entirety." I hope they put it to good use. This would be an ideal place to bring "The Great Darkness Saga" back into print.

JUSTICE LEAGUE NEW FRONTIER BOX SET
DESIGNED BY DARWYN COOKE
I'm really kind of irritated that they redesigned Wonder Woman's head for this set and this set is the only place you can get it!!! Now I have to decide if I want to shell out for a set to get one figure. A repaint I could pass by more easily. Grrrr. Altho the Superman figure is kinda cool, too. We'll see...

REIGN IN HELL #5
Written by Keith Giffen
Art by Tom Derenick & Bill Sienkiewicz and Justiniano & Walden Wong
Cover by Justiniano
This is just a mess.
Hopefully the final coloring will be better and we'll be able to make out what's going on. Bleh.

SECRET SIX #3
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott & Doug Hazlewood
Cover by Nicola Scott
Featuring Luke Wilson as Catman, and the big reveal of the mysterious Bat-villain joining the Six...

TERRA #1-2
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art and cover by Amanda Conner
It's hard for me to care about this since they got rid of "my" Terra to make room for this one. And it's not just that they did kill her off, it's how: Unceremoniously, in a poorly-written sequence in a craptacular mini-series...and then she was. Never. Mentioned. Again.
Even Duela Dent got a funeral. And DC could never decide from one year to the next if she was even in continuity!!!
Give some love to "my" Terra, and then maybe I'll care about this one...

TERROR TITANS #2
Written by Sean McKeever
Art and cover by Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson
Is that the Star-Spangled Kid?
Weird.

TITANS: OLD FRIENDS HC
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Ian Churchill, Joe Benitez
Cover by Joe Benitez & Victor Llamas
collecting TEEN TITANS EAST SPECIAL #1 and TITANS #1-6.
Harcover? Seriously?
I'm not normally a Dan Didio basher but -- wow, his ego is pretty big.
No, I didn't forget the cover image. That was a conscious decision.

ACTION COMICS #871 | SUPERGIRL #35 | SUPERMAN #682
Written by Geoff Johns | Sterling Gates | James Robinson
Art by Pete Woods | Jamal Igle & Keith Champagne | Renato Guedes & Wilson Magalháes
Covers by Alex Ross

I just love these covers. They make me almost as excited about the "New Krypton" story as the creative teams.
Although that cover for SUPERMAN #682? Something has to be done about that. That guy to the upper right does not conform to DC standards. We'll need some art alteration or clever cover copy before that can see print...

You can check out DC's full November solicitaions at
Comic Book Resources and/or Newsarama.

Wonder Woman vs The Argyle Sweater!!

This is just funny!!The Argyle Sweater by Scott Hilburn
July 17, 2008
© 2008 Scott Hilburn/Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Project Superpowers: Target and the Targeteers!

Today's PROJECT SUPERPOWERS Flashback Spotlight is on: The Target and the Targeteers!!

The Target was one of the cover-stars featured on PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #5.

Here's some interesting trivia from Toonopedia:
"...here's a case where the name was used first for a continuing comic book, and only later was a character to match it introduced. It shared this trait with Centaur Publications' STARS & STRIPES and Lev Gleason's THE SILVER STREAK.
"TARGET COMICS was the first one... It debuted with a cover date of February, 1940...
"It wasn't until the tenth issue (November, 1940) that The Target himself was introduced, and only in the 11th did The Targeteers come along."

Now, from May 1942, here's a story originally found in TARGET COMICS vol.3 #3 (aka the 27th issue).

(What? You thought doing comics in 12 issue "seasons" was a new idea?):

You can download TARGET COMICS Vol.3 #3
and lots of other awesome golden-age goodness
from Golden Age Comics Downloads!

DC Comics Super Heroes - Postal Commemoratives

This is why I love eBay so much!!
I didn't even know these things existed!!!!I had some of these gold stamp things when I was a kid, but I can't even begin to remember what they were. Nothing nearly as cool as Wonder Woman and Supergirl!!I just wish I could've won both Supergirl stamps. Hell, I wish I could've won all 20 of them!! They rock!!
But I'm happy with what I got!

I love eBay!

Captain America stands out!

So, being unfamilar with Rodolfo Migliari's work (he who drew the cover to GREEN LANTERN CORPS #27), I did a little internet research. I was stunned by what I found.
After all the turmoil the web-world endured over Citizen Steel...I can't believe there was no hubbub over this one.
I didn't come across so much as a message board post about it. Marvel apparently wasn't too worried about it. They didn't alter the artwork or try and hide it.

CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL 2001

And this one is blatant.
In-your-face blatant.
On-your-knees in-your-face blatant.
Look at the detail in the folds of the fabric! And no one cried out for censorship!?
That's not even average-Joe packaging. That's ample. Where were the rapid fanboys?
And there are nipples! Didn't Joel Schumacher get a lot of crap for nipples?

Citizen Steel had to be neutered...

Boggles. The. Mind.

DC Comics: Still Petrified of Package

I don't know why I'm surprised.
But I mean, there was no uproar like the Citizen Steel thing generated.
I guess, at the very least, they didn't alter the actual artwork. Still...

Here's the beautiful art that Rodolfo Migliari created for GREEN LANTERN CORPS #27, and DC's "dressed up" version:

At least Luke Ross threw us a bone. Errr, so to speak...

Mattel's DC Universe Classics: Titans Together

Mattel is bringing on the Titans with their DC Universe Classics line.

Wave 3 (which should be out about now) features Deathstroke, Nightwing and Robin. Including variant Deathstrokes, with and without his mask.

Wave 4 (due in the fall) includes Cyborg. KB Toys will have an exclusive variant with Sonic Arm Cyborg.
Wave 7 (yeah, there's a bit of break there) is fairly Flash-centric, but that begets us a Wally West Kid-Flash!!
There's also a Starfire figure coming, but this one's a little trickier. It only comes in a two-pack with Adam Strange...and it's only available from mattycollector.com.
There is a little bit of "boo" associated with these, though. They've all already been released by DC Direct in one fashion or another. How many DC Direct and Mattel versions of Nightwing and Robin have there been?
DC Direct did Starfire and Kid Flash in 2000 followed by Cyborg in 2001 as part of The New Teen Titans series.
Deathstroke has had two recent figures from DC Direct: One in Contemporary Teen Titans series 1 in 2004, and then The New Teen Titans Series 2 this year.
And while it would be cool to get updated looks for the characters... All the Deathstokes are basically the same. These looks for Nightwing and Robin (even in his more recent costume) have been well-covered by both DC Direct and Mattel. And they're giving us a retro-look Cyborg. Which he wore not only on his DC Direct figure...but also on his Super Powers figure back in the 80s!
Only Starfire is in an outfit that has yet to be released on an action figure.
Oh well.

Go figure...

Keep up to date on all the DCUC awesomeness at DCUC.info (which is where I stole all the pics from, could ya tell?)

Project Superpowers: The Arrow!

Today's PROJECT SUPERPOWERS Flashback Spotlight is on: The Arrow!!

The Arrow was one of the cover-stars featured on PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #5. Yeah, he was the one with one of the most boring logos I've ever seen. At least it's not hideous, like the logo DC gave Raven. But, still -- who came up with that? And were they paid? I demand a refund for Dynamite!!

The Arrow first appeared in FUNNY PAGES Vol. 2 #10 (#21, Sept 1938). For those of you keeping track of such things, that puts his debut 8 months before Batman (DETECTIVE COMICS #27, May 1939).

According to Toonopedia: "The Arrow didn't mind taking the Judge Dredd approach of being judge, jury and executioner all in one. If a criminal deserved death, but was untouchable due to those pesky legal technicalities like due process and the presumption of innocence, The Arrow would simply take care of the killing himself, bypassing all the fuss and bother. He even kept a particular arrow in his quiver, a black one, for just that purpose."

Okay! Let's read an Arrow story! This one if from THE ARROW #3 (Oct 1941):

You can download THE ARROW #3
and lots of other awesome golden-age goodness
from Golden Age Comics Downloads!