June 28, 2006
return to the beginning
Here's the first Superman Sunday strip from 1939. I Love Comix has a bunch, if you're looking for more...
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:49 PM | TrackBack
June 27, 2006
still super
I asked: is anyone else getting excited about that movie opening this week?!
from January 25, 1979
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:42 AM | TrackBack
June 26, 2006
that's super...
So, anyone else getting excited about a certain movie opening this week?
panel from another hero's strip, May 16, 1968
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:11 AM | TrackBack
May 30, 2006
Happy Birthday, Jillmer!!
Happy birthday to the sweet, sweet gal that makes my world go 'round!
from May 7, 1950
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:45 AM | TrackBack
May 15, 2006
Kirby's Blue Beetle
Funny-guy comics blogger, Kevin Church, posted a Jack Kirby Blue Beetle strip over the weekend. I only have a couple of these, but would love to see more. Anyone have a good run of The Blue Beetle that you'd like to share with your pal, Thrillmer?
from June 14, 1939
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:01 AM | TrackBack
May 06, 2006
take it Easy
I've been on the hunt lately for specific Crooks & Lawrence Captain Easy strips from my youth. I bumped into this one and just had to post it for that guy over at Mystifying Oracle. Enjoy!
from October 23, 1979
Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:28 PM | TrackBack
December 28, 2005
Extra, extra!
It's my birthday and I'm celebrating with a fantasy comics page from the big day. The comics are real, this is just the first time they've all appeared together...
from December 28, 1972
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:38 PM | TrackBack
December 24, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas finale!
Happy holidays, everyone! Hope you enjoyed this tale of Christmas mischief.
from December 24, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:16 AM | TrackBack
December 23, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 18
Told you we'd get caught up! Santa Claus himself makes an appearance today--don't you dare miss the exciting conclusion tomorrow!!
from December 22, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:24 PM | TrackBack
December 22, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 17
Like I say, this town would be screwed if not for the awesome heroics of Billy and Sniffer!
from December 21, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:09 PM | TrackBack
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 16
What would this town do without Billy and Sniffer??
from December 20, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:16 PM | TrackBack
December 21, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 15
He's still at it...
from December 19, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 02:59 PM | TrackBack
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 14
Don't be too sure, kids...
from December 18, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:47 AM | TrackBack
December 20, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 13
Spoken like a true villain.
from December 17, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:08 PM | TrackBack
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 12
Boooom!
from December 15, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:46 PM | TrackBack
December 19, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 11
Our intrepid heroes may yet win this day.
from December 14, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:39 PM | TrackBack
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 10
So close!
from December 13, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:40 PM | TrackBack
December 12, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 9
Things are looking up for our heroes...
from December 12, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:14 PM | TrackBack
December 11, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 8
There's Sniffer!
from December 11, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:14 AM | TrackBack
December 09, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas Day 7
This is getting a little creepy - Sniffer, where are you?!
from December 10, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:28 PM | TrackBack
December 08, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas Day 6
I don't know if this Billy Boone is brave, or just plain crazy.
from December 8, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:39 AM | TrackBack
December 07, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas Day 5
And a trap is set!
from December 7, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:51 PM | TrackBack
December 06, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas Day 4
And so a plan was hatched...
from December 6, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:14 AM | TrackBack
December 05, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas Day 3
This guy is one cold-hearted villain! And he's got a fool-proof plan!
from December 5, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:06 AM | TrackBack
December 04, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 2
from December 4, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:49 PM | TrackBack
December 02, 2005
The Man Who Tried to Ruin Christmas day 1
Oh, the holiday season is upon us, so we're celebrating with a lost tale from the comics page of yesteryear. Honestly, I know very little about this strip other than the fact that I simply adore the artwork. If anyone has some details, please share them with the rest of us!
Without further ado, here's "The Man Who Tried To Ruin Christmas."
from December 3, 1962
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:00 AM | TrackBack
September 01, 2005
Old Doc Yak attack!
Just wanted to let everyone know we're having a celebration in the honor of Old Doc Yak over at my other home on the net, Barnacle Press! Check it out!
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:30 AM | TrackBack
July 19, 2005
Today's sad news
I am saddened to read the news that Jim Aparo has passed away. His DC Comics work will forever be part of my memories of childhood, especially his Batman. I know there will be many others who will be able to sum up his impact better than I; I simply join the chorus of voices that say Mr. Aparo, you will be missed.
Stern Wheeler by Jim Aparo & Ralph Kanna from April 10-12, 1963
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:39 PM | TrackBack
May 18, 2005
the man in black
After health problems forced Russ Manning to leave the Star Wars strip at close of "The Frozen World of Ota," Russ Helm (aka Archie Goodwin) and beloved veteran artist Alfredo Alcala came aboard for "Planet of Kadril." As you know, I do not claim to be an expert by any means, but I'm fairly certain this story has not been officially reprinted. Dig the crazy threads on our heroes...
The next day saw the first installment of an adaptation of Brian Daley's novel Han Solo at Stars' End by the same team.
strips from October 5 and 6, 1980.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 03:03 PM | TrackBack
May 17, 2005
memories of Old Ben
As we're just celebrating the release of the new movie this week, there's no way your pal Thrillmer could get an entire story up in the time allotted. But, he can point you in the direction of Evan Strikes Back, where you can find a (nearly) complete episode of the syndicated Star Wars strip. "Tattooine Sojourn" brings Luke Skywalker back to his home planet, which has changed a little since he was last there...
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:45 PM | TrackBack
May 16, 2005
finally the spotlight rests on C3PO
Today I'm posting a strip from early in the Star Wars comic strip run. Once again we have the great Russ Manning providing the artwork in an episode that gives our favorite protocol droid a taste of center stage. Just don't ask me what the deal is with that platform...
from March 11, 1979
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:38 PM | TrackBack
May 15, 2005
snowboardin'
I just couldn't pass up this goofy image of Luke and Boba hitting the slopes.
from June 29, 1980
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:32 PM | TrackBack
May 14, 2005
stars in my eyes
As I look forward to this week, there is one thing above all else that has my nerd heart racing. Sure, playing with our brand new laptop is up there, but I'm afraid even that has been edged out by the hype machine that is Revenge of the Sith. To celebrate the coming of the last Star Wars film ever, I'm going to be throwing some strips up here this week featuring some of filmdom's most beloved characters. Today I have the beginning of the storyline The Frozen World of Ota which just happened to feature the introduction of a certain bad guy before he appeared on the big screen. Can you guess who it is before clicking?
from June 17-21, 1980
plus a special bonus color Sunday from June 22, 1980
Posted by Thrillmer! at 02:12 PM | TrackBack
April 14, 2005
Happy National Library Week yet again!
This one comes from Bill Holman's strip Nuts and Jolts. Unfortunately I don't have a date for this strip. It's a hoary joke, but I like the fact that the librarian is a male; I swear sometimes I feel like the only one...
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:37 AM | TrackBack
April 13, 2005
Happy National Library Week! Again!
To quote Leonard Starr, "If you want a perfect world, hand it over to the librarians."
The illustration above captures characters from Mr. Starr's wonderful Mary Perkins, Onstage reading the funnies, which just happens to feature another strip he worked on. The quote comes from Bruce Smith's The History of Little Orphan Annie.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:02 AM | TrackBack
April 12, 2005
Happy National Library Week!
The good news is, I'm back from vacation! The bad news is, between work and school, the next couple weeks are conspiring to crush me! I'm going to try to get back to my usual posting schedule, but it may take a few days for me to get up to speed. In the meantime, enjoy this Skippy strip; it is one of my all-time favorites. I can't believe my favorite week of the year is finally here...
strip from Jan 19, 1930
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:11 PM | TrackBack
April 04, 2005
I may be leaving you, but I'm not leaving forever
Your pal thrillmer is off to sunny locales for some much needed R&R. Here's to hoping my partner in crime, Holmes, steps up to fill the classic comics void that my departure will surely leave. Don't worry, I'll be back next week!
Symbolizing my departure from these shores (and perhaps good sense itself?) are these B.C. strips from 1979. enjoy...
Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:48 PM | TrackBack
March 28, 2005
Howard!
Okay, ask and you shall receive. Here's the full Howard the Duck from yesterday. The downside? Now I'm wishing I had more of these...
from Sept 4, 1977
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:23 PM | TrackBack
March 27, 2005
hoppity hop hop
I may have a strip that's more on point for this holiday, but this is the best I could find at the moment. For crying out loud, it's from Steve Gerber and Gene Colan, so you're getting quality here my friends. This the topper of a Howard the Duck Sunday from back in the day, you know, when shit really mattered. It blows my mind that these two were working on the strip, their work on the comic book proper is some of my favorite comic work ever. The strip later fell into the hands of Marv Wolfman and Alan Kupperberg; while I mean no disrespect to those gentlemen, their work on the strip does not begin to hold a candle to what came before.
Happy Easter everyone!
from Sept 4, 1977
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:49 PM | TrackBack
February 23, 2005
dream on White Boy...
Over lunch today I picked up the new issue of The Comics Journal (no. 266 with Bendis on the cover) and found to my delight that they've chosen to print some more classic color sunday pages! This time up is Garrett Price's White Boy. We are treated to the first 32 strips, plus there's a nice introduction by Ron Goulart. Great stuff.
By way of a tcj message board post I discovered a resource for even more White Boy: Kevin Huizenga has some strips up in his gallery on the uss catastrophe site. The same post also leaks the rumor that there's a CD ROM in the works; the Little Joe volume was great, I'm so glad to hear this strip is being given the same treatment. I'll post more information when the news becomes official...
And, oh yeah, the late great Flat Earth! had a bit on White Boy as well. Steven, you are sorely missed!
Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:00 PM | TrackBack
February 08, 2005
ladies and gentlemen, I give you the super spank
He stands for truth, justice, the American way, and apparently, the "old-fashioned remedy." If you thought your ass would be aching after receiving the stony spank of the Thing, can you imagine how you'd feel after this? Truly this would be the Spank of Steel!
Honoring that time tested tradition, the spanker justifies his behavior by explaining that the recipient had it coming for a long time. In this case it must be true, it's Superman! He wouldn't lie...
Spank 'em and fly away. Superman had so much more style back in the Forties.
from May 20 and 21, 1941
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:08 AM | TrackBack
January 31, 2005
Phantom news daily
File this under news I should have mentioned long before today. At any rate, for anyone who hasn't heard yet, Paul Ryan assumes artistic duties on The Phantom with today's strip. Will this be enough to get me on board? We'll see...Ted Slampyak got me reading Annie again, so it's possible.
If you want to learn more about Paul & his plans for the ghost-who-walks, this interview might help.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:24 PM | TrackBack
January 25, 2005
for no reason whatsoever, a quiz
This is from the back cover of Teacher's Threat, third Crest printing, Jan 1961. The ninth Dennis the Menace book according to the interior copy.
I don't mean to brag, but I got a perfect score my first time...
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:16 PM | TrackBack
January 07, 2005
that's the Spirit
After posting about his passing, I wanted to put up some kind of tribute to Will Eisner. Once I saw this image there really wasn't any other option...
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:08 PM | TrackBack
December 26, 2004
A very Little Joe Christmas
Happy Boxing Day!
from Dec 28, 1935
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:12 AM | TrackBack
November 03, 2004
Happy Birthday Holmes!
I was planning to drop this in the morning, but that was back when I thought tomorrow was the big day - sorry I'm a flake. Hope it was a good one, big guy!
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:19 PM | TrackBack
October 24, 2004
Short Rib
Frank O'Neal's Short Ribs was a pretty unique strip in its day, jumping forward and backward in time, allowing gags involving different sets of era-specific characters. Frank Hill, O'Neal's assistant, took over in 1973; as seen in the strip above, his humor was a little more politically focused. Certainly of its day, but maybe relevant today..?
When I was a lad, I used to clip Short Ribs and Captain Easy and paste them onto construction paper, creating little comic books. There's still a chance they might be lost in a closet somewhere in my parents' home, though they probably were thown away long ago. I still remember vividly a panel from Captain Easy involving Easy sneaking onto a ship run by a crew of women. In this one panel, a crew member has the drop on Easy and is about to club him over the head with a wrench. I've been picking up Crooks & Lawrence Easy strips when I can find them, but have yet to come across that one...has to be from the late 70s/early 80s. Someday.
Short Ribs from October 23, 1973
Posted by Thrillmer! at 01:31 PM | TrackBack
October 23, 2004
Don't call it a comeback
I don't really have an excuse, I'm just feeling like I've likely spread myself too thin. Lately I think both my school work and my actual work have become increasingly harder to juggle, it was only a matter of time before I dropped the ball here (that was a really bad metaphor, wasn't it?)
My apologies, loyal readers. I think I'm sinking into a premature winter malaise. And I've got some existential crisis going on too. Don't really feel like going into it now, just hope I can find my way out of it soon. Hopefully there won't be any more disappearances here at thrillmer...though I do have assignments I need to have done mid-week in both classes. *sigh*
Batman & Robin from Dec 15, 1971
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:10 AM | TrackBack
October 11, 2004
greener grass
I tell you, there are days I wish I was a public librarian. Namely holidays. *sigh*
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:00 PM | TrackBack
September 14, 2004
et tu, Flyin' Jenny?
Jenny Dare gets into the act this time around, proving once again the comic strip spank knows no boundaries as far as gender is concerned. As this Flyin' Jenny strip illustrates, it is often observed by the spanker or an impartial onlooker that the recipient of the punishment has long had it coming...
panel from Feb 16, 1941.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:15 PM | TrackBack
September 07, 2004
the-ghost-who-spanks
Add another to the list of classic comic strip stars resorting to a good old fashioned spanking to solve the problem at hand. We've seen Buz Sawyer, Captain Easy, Little Orphan Annie, and now the Phantom.
I swear, I'm starting to think it's only a matter of time before I catch all of those old timers in the middle of administering some corporal punishment.
panel from July 2, 1938
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:15 PM | TrackBack
August 03, 2004
gags
This weekend I picked up a well weathered copy of The Pocket Book of Cartoons at the Newberry Library book fair. What a fantastic book! After reading the caption on the back, I had to publicly apologize as it clearly touts Peter Arno as "the undoubted king of cartoonists." Other notables are Charles Addams, "dabbler in the macabre" and James Thurber, "proponent of merry madness." So there you have it. I should learn just to keep my mouth shut.
The always entertaining Holmes is posting the work of another of the artists found in the book, Whitney Darrow, Jr., who is just incredible. Check it out.
Just for fun, here's a James Thurber cartoon for my pal Steven. Merry madness, indeed.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:14 PM | TrackBack
July 27, 2004
DeBeck the cartoonist
Yep, I'm channeling Holmes tonight for all of you that have been missing him. I hain't heard from 'im myself, so I'm just guessing, his new set up must not have internet access yet. Or else he's dead tired from moving all week.
Here's a great DeBeck strip about the rigors of becoming a cartoonist.
originally published in Cartoons Magazine, Nov. 1917
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:01 AM | TrackBack
July 26, 2004
Holmes, come home!
My man Holmes has fallen off the face of the earth, and since I consider myself his sister site, I'm here to pick up the slack.
So Skippy fans, I'm not going to last long, but here's a funny one from 1936. Don't know if the big man himself has this one; if so, sorry I scooped you!
from Jan. 21, 1936
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:44 PM | TrackBack
July 25, 2004
weekend update
I'm happy to have this weekend behind me, only one more summer school session and I'll be a free man for three weeks or so until fall semester starts up. I had to miss out on some really fun things like moving Holmes's heavy furniture up three flights of stairs, but I think I made the best of it. Hope your move went well, I'll try to make it to the next one!
And speaking of Holmes, he made the claim the other day that Peter Arno was the greatest single panel gag cartoonist ever. Now as much as I love Arno (and I do), Mr. Holmes seems to be glossing over another regular New Yorker contributor. Now I know his good name might be forever tarnished since MC Hammer rapped about his most famous ceation, but you cannot deny the genius that was Charles Addams! I submit the following for your inspection.
I do not have a date for this strip, other than the year 1955. It was lifted from the collection, Nightcrawlers, 1957.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:19 PM | TrackBack
Captain Easy 100172
This is the first opportunity I've had to post today, in fact I'm still at school. My apologies to anyone who stopped by earlier for their Sunday fix. Today is a Crooks & Lawrence Captain Easy from 1972. I just love that one, Captain Easy's mailbox identifies him as such, and two, he just happens to live in the same building as a guy named E.Z. Kaplan. What a coincidence. I know I have problems with that T.H. Rillmer guy upstairs all the time...
from Oct. 1, 1972
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:36 PM | TrackBack
July 14, 2004
allow me to pander a bit...
Let me say welcome to all my new visitors from the Toth fans site. And am I to believe that the guy who gave us the acclaimed graphic novel The Interman is wasting his time here?! The world has gone crazy, I think. Thanks for the plug, Jeff!
One other thing, did anyone buy this book when it was new back in 1988? I just got this in the mail today, and have yet to really sit down with it, but I can't for the life of me figure out where the Surprise 4 page Folio is supposed to be. Was it an insert or something???
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:48 PM | TrackBack
July 07, 2004
who better?
Steve Canyon 1949
One of my favorite purchases of the last week would have to be CheckerBPG's newest book of Steve Canyon reprints. I haven't had a chance to actually read the whole book yet, but I have perused it a little and can report that this volume is just as nice as the previous two. As you can see from some of the samples online, original artwork or proofs must have been used in compliling this, as Caniff's pencils often find their way outside of the panel borders. For anyone who missed out on the Kitchen Sink reprint series (like me) these books are a great way to experience Steve Canyon from the beginning.
As a special treat, I'm posting a sketch Caniff made for the 1983 National Cartoonists Society Convention. In this drawing he gives a clever critique of the state of the newspaper comics page. It almost looks like Steve is part of one of Joe Matt's early Peepshow layouts...
Comic Strip News
Yesterday I linked to an interview with Get Fuzzy's Darby Conley in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. What I neglected to do report is that it is part of a week long series of interviews with the top five creators, as voted by the readers. Seems they're cleaning house based on the votes. You never know how something like that might go, on one hand I certainly like the idea of letting the readership choose what they want to read. On the other hand, people seem to love crap...am I right folks? At any rate, Monday had a feature on Scott Adams and Today has Jerry Scott and Rick Kirman, the creators of Baby Blues. I'm interested to see who their top two cartoonists will be.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:08 PM | TrackBack
July 05, 2004
Marvelous Monday
One last Spiderman item. While searching for the first week of strips, I discovered that the Chicago Tribune's run displaced another Stan Lee strip, Vera Valiant. This strip lasted only a couple years, and was illustrated by Frank Springer. Vera's fans in Chicago must have been upset, as this strip from January 1, 1977 leaves us on quite a cliff hanger.
When Monday rolled around, Vera's spot on the page was taken by everyone's favorite web-slinger.
While stumbling around the net, I came across an Incredible Hulk comic strip by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. I knew about Spiderman when I was younger, but up to this point, I was not aware that Stan had a Hulk strip too. This one's from June 8, 1979, I believe.
The official Hulk strip only lasted a couple years as well. However, there is a new Hulk strip that thrives in the wonderful world of fan fiction. This fan-created strip takes off from the events in What IF #23, which features the Hulk battling his way through a barbaric world. Somehow that doesn't surprise me. The writing is a bit clunky, but I think the art captures the 70's Hulk vibe. Doctor Strange is a key player in the current storyline, if that sweetens it for you. Check it out here.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:41 PM | TrackBack
July 04, 2004
spidey week comes to a close...
...by starting with the beginning. Click the panel below to see the enire first week of dailies. Once again, they're from microfilm, so try to enjoy them as much as you can without letting all the scratchy lines ruin the fun.
Hope everyone is having a happy--and safe--fourth. It sounds like a war zone out my window at the moment.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:12 PM | TrackBack
July 03, 2004
spidey saturday
Well, Holmes and I went to see Spiderman 2 today, and it's safe to say that we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not going to add yet another review to the Web, just know that if you have any affection in your heart for the ol' wall-crawler, you need to see it. As well, I'd be remiss if I didn't give my pal Holmes a plug, as his site is now looking better than ever.
Now, if I had planned my Spidey tribute week better, I probably would have started with the above image, a teaser from Sunday, January 2, 1977. Or maybe the article below (assuming I ever got a decent copy of it). I have the first week of dailies scanned, and I'll be posting them tomorrow. Would have made sense to throw them up last Monday, but what can you do now? It's weird how most of the strips I posted this week actually correlate to scenes in the new film. Not that computer one, of course...
Guess that's it for now. Hope everybody had a happy Free Comic Day.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:32 PM | TrackBack
July 02, 2004
MJ
Okay, we've seen plain ol' Peter Parker. We've seen him as Spiderman. We've even seen Doc Ock and Aunt May, but what about the gal that makes Peter Parker's world go 'round? Mary Jane's here today in a sequence from October 1986. Art supplied this time around by the legendary Dan Barry.
from Oct. 4 and 6-7, 1986
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:24 AM | TrackBack
July 01, 2004
bring on the bad guy
We've been having a grand ol' Spidey celebration this week in honor of the new movie. But what about the other half of the equation? A hero is only as good as his villain, we all know that. Let us honor Doctor Otto Octavius today with a strip from the early months of The Amazing Spiderman. How no one could tell he's hiding 4 giant metal tentacles under his coat is beyond me, but let's not think about that. Just soak in that beautiful Romita art. I apologize once again for the less-than-perfect source material.
from April 4, 1977
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:01 AM | TrackBack
June 30, 2004
no one told me
I'm betting I'm the last guy to the party on this, but just in case you haven't come across it yet...
I ran into this site while looking for information about the Spiderman strip. Apparently someone out there isn't content to just let the strip's silliness stand on its own, as all the dialogue has been rewritten. Some of the results are pretty damn funny, some not so much - just make sure to refresh your browser. And you might want to be careful if you're at work.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:44 PM | TrackBack
look out! he's got a computer!
Step back to the 80s with me as the amazing Spiderman faces a foe with the awesome processing power of 64k at his fingertips. What's a web-slinger to do?
The artist this time around is Fred Kida, who was no Romita, but on the plus side he wasn't Stan's brother, Larry Lieber, either...
from July 1, 1983
Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:49 AM | TrackBack
June 29, 2004
Your friendly, neighborhood dumbass
If you thought yesterday's strips showed Peter Parker to be short sighted, then you'll really enjoy these. Did he suddenly forget that he maintains a secret identity? Part of this storyline focuses on how Spidey is wanted by the law, so why not just climb up the side of a building in the middle of a crowded city in your street clothes? Keep in mind this story was written by Spiderman's creator, Stan Lee, who you'd think would know his character better than this...
this sequence from Jan 25-27, 1993
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:21 AM | TrackBack
June 28, 2004
action 5 bucks is his reward
I've been hearing all about this new Spiderman movie, but didn't he retire back in 1980? Like most people, I just stopped reading after this; I figured his story had been told. I haven't missed much have I?
Okay, I know that wasn't the end of the strip. I mean, Stan Lee's probably getting around to wrapping up this storyline about now...
from Jan 2 and 3, 1980.
Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:27 AM | TrackBack
June 20, 2004
Happy Father's Day
It being Father's Day and all, I wanted to pay some sort of tribute to my own. Looking at our family from the outside, it might seem that the two of us have little in common. Especially when you consider the degree to which my dad dedicates his time to sports. My lord, if he's not playing them (and he's not letting his age keep him from that at all), he's watching them on television. It doesn't matter what it is. Baseball, football, basketball, tennis, golf, professional bull riding, hockey, you get the point. As long as it's competetive, he's loving it. Growing up, it was easy to see that my older brother was cut from a similar cloth. My poor father, each successive kid realized the law of diminishing returns...my brother was a superstar, good at any game he tried his hand at. Most notably basketball, but he could hold his own in any of them and make it look effortless. Me, I was good enough not to completely embarrass myself, though it seemed like it took a whole lot of hard work on my part to achieve even that. And my younger sister, well she was born without much athletic ability at all and has never really tried to disguise the fact.
My father is not all sports, though. He's an incredibly bright man, and spent his career working as an educator. Each of us kids were encouraged to think for ourselves and to be creative and to consider the learning process as something important. And it's easy to see his influence in our current lives. My brother is a high school teacher and coach, I'm a librarian and my sister works for a humanitarian organization.
But as I write this, it occurs to me that one obvious father-son bond I share with my father is right here, staring me in the face! My father is a big action adventure fan and I can remember sitting by his side as a wee boy soaking in James Bond movies. He was always game to talk superheroes with me, his all-time favorite being Superman. And he followed the trials and tribulations of Captain Easy, which we would discuss after my dad had some time to relax after reading the evening paper. I guess I assumed all dads read the funny pages and wanted to go over the story arcs with their boys. I still remember thinking he was crazy when he told me that Easy's pal Wash used to be the star of the strip--I mean, c'mon, that pip squeak couldn't handle himself in a fight. How on earth did he expect me to believe that?
So it is for my father that I present this Wash Tubbs strip from May 6, 1929, proving once and for all that my father was right on the money, and I was a fool to doubt him.
For those not in the know, this is the very first meeting of Wash and the man who would steal the show.
Happy Father's Day, dad!