by Miles Perzewski
I may not be very old to know the great age of slot car tracks, but my dad had a lot. I recall fun times with those awesome sets. One Christmas back in the 90s I actually got a new “The Lost World Jurassic Park” slot car track set. Makes me want go find it. I’m almost positive I’ve got that thing somewhere buried with all sorts of old childhood toys. The new Batman Slot Car Set from the campy days of Adam West with cool vintage packaging sure makes me pumped! The Joker will never leave me in the dust with Bats and I on his tail when this track is in my hands. Believe It!
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by Beau Smith
Let’s talk about Marvel and DC characters a little. Depending on your age and when you started reading comics, you no doubt have that time period wired into your brain and it makes a difference as to how you see the characters. Example: If you started reading Batman in the early 1960’s, then a part of you will always think of him with the Batcave, the giant penny, fighting bad guys like Gorilla Boss, and never having a story go more than one issue. A far cry from the Batman of the 1980’s when the “grim and gritty” trend began for him.
Neither is right or wrong, it’s just a matter of when you came to the party.
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by KC Carlson
Trinity Anniversary
DC somehow finagled their publishing schedule so that their Big 3 characters all have Anniversary Issues the same month – so look for Superman #700, Batman #700, and Wonder Woman #600. All of these are 56-page comics with several creators pitching in, and all three promise major changes in creative direction as well. Both Superman and Wonder Woman feature the first work on the characters by recently new-to-DC superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski.
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by Miles “okpank” Perzewski
As I think about this question, I can only think of a few comics, but not one in particular that stands out as the first. Seems like a hard question.
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by Miles “okpank” Perzewski
Back in the day, the big comic for me was Batman. Anything Batman for around a dollar I’d love to get. That may be my first run in with comics. I’ve lived in Madison my whole life. Around 1998 for my birthday my dad gave me some comics from Westfield, never even knew the place existed before that. I picked up other comics as well like Sonic the Hedgehog and Tomb Raider, along with some KISS stuff. Since then I still have a bunch of Batman comics, but I have not purchased any Batman or superhero comics in general for a long time. The main things that interest me are Sonic the Hedgehog comics, Manga, and toys.
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by KC Carlson
Often in comic books, especially when it comes to superhero comics, credit for creation is talked about in two different ways. One is the common-sense, often folkloreian manner of determining who created a character: either based on a series of tales handed down through the years by those who were there, or by comics historians who have studied the early works and can determine artist styles and quirks or certain writer tics (like placement of punctuation or use of verbs or adjectives, or even the number of exclamation marks used!!!). The other is whoever the lawyers say created something. Of the two, I believe the latter is the more arcane and mysterious choice.
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by KC Carlson
There are a number of new Marvel projects this month falling under the banner of “Women of Marvel” – spotlighting not only Marvel’s fascinating female characters, but also the creators who wield the pencils and brushes and tap those keyboards. First up is Girl Comics, a three-issue anthology series featuring work by women only. (The book will probably be printed by men, though.) The first issue sports a great She-Hulk vs. Iron Man cover by the amazing Amanda Conner – and it’s not the battle you’d normally expect. I’m looking forward to seeing the work of Ann Nocenti, Devin Grayson, and Trina Robbins, all of whom haven’t done much superhero comic work of late, as well as current faves including Colleen Coover and Stephanie Buscema.
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by KC Carlson
One of my very favorite DC maxiseries (as they used to be called) is back in print in December. JLA: Year One is being re-presented with a new cover (actually, it’s a composite of a couple of the original covers) by artist Barry Kitson – although I kinda like the old one too, and I hope they find a way to incorporate it into the new printing somehow.
JLA: Year One, written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn and pencilled by Kitson, is one of DC’s classic continuity implant stories. And yet, it is also so much more.
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by KC Carlson
The next animated DC comic movie will be an adaptation of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, due on DVD September 29. With that just around the corner, I thought a look back at the original source material was in order.
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More Back Issues On Sale!
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