KC COLUMN: VALENTINE’S DAY
Lois & Clark from Adventures of Superman #525. Art by Stuart Immonen & Jose Marzan Jr.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, KC Carlson looks at some classic comic book romances.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, KC Carlson looks at some classic comic book romances.
KC COLUMN: Never-Ending Story: The Final Chapter
by KC Carlson
PREVIOUSLY ON NEVER-ENDING STORY: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) The 1980s were a particularly fertile period for creativity in superhero comic books. A lot of outside factors — changes in distribution, new formats, creators wanting new outlets to express their creativity leading to new comics publishers, and an overriding feeling that comics as a medium was growing by quantum leaps — lead to this. 1986 was a particularly good year for comics, including Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Maus, and many other memorable projects. It felt like a new Golden Age — but there was darkness brewing.
KC Column: The Never-Ending Story Part 1
by KC Carlson
Though we may be inundated by it in current superhero comic books, long-form serialized storytelling is nothing new.
The idea of telling a long-form storyline as a series of chapters originally dates back to somewhere between the mid-8th and the mid-13th century. The work in question? One Thousand and One Nights, more colloquially known in English as the Arabian Nights. They are actually a series of independent stories gathered together with a framing device, but as originally told, each story was shared over a period of nights, including some kind of “cliffhanger” ending, which would be resolved the following night. Some of the more famous of the stories include “Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp”, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, and “The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor”, all of which are probably much better known to several generations of American children as the basis for three very memorable (and historically important) Popeye the Sailor cartoons.
Beauology 101: “Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.” ~George Bernard Shaw
by Beau Smith
This week I’m going deep into an area that I usually don’t delve into. One that makes me a little nutty when I read or hear others talking about it in heated discussions. This topic falls into the “Who is stronger, The Hulk or Superman” area. What some folks call “Fanboy Talk”.
It’s not a bad thing as long as you remember that these are fictional characters and not real folk, although some of us have been reading about these characters so long that they feel like “real” people.
Fifth Degree: Marvel Previews #81
by Josh Crawley
Not to brag, but I have so many awesome friends! Chadi got me a sketch card from Jordan Gunderson of Witchblade-bearer Sara Pezzini (a nice companion piece to the 11 by 14 he did for me a couple years ago). Our customers (Brian, Katie & Eric, Emily, and many more) brought so much food to my co-workers on Free Comic Book Day that I still got to eat some today.
Oh, and my amazing friends Andy & Kristy: it was a beautiful wedding and I had so much fun with friends new & old; thank you. I love you two!
Now that that’s been said, it’s time for me to get back to work! This week: Marvel Previews #81!
10 Things I Like About July ’10 Comics (and a couple I’m not so crazy about)
by KC Carlson
1. CLASSIC CREATORS RETURN TO CLASSIC CHARACTERS: Neal Adams writes and illustrates Batman: Odyssey, a new six-part miniseries from DC Comics. For those of us reading comics in the late 1960s and 70s, Adams was THE Batman artist, so his return to write and draw a brand-new Batman tale (featuring a bunch of classic friends and foes) is pretty big news.
Roger’s Comic Ramblings: Feeling Nostalgic
by Roger Ash
I’ve been feeling nostalgic recently; nostalgic for a time when the world made sense and people weren’t at each other’s throats if they disagreed with each other. When I’m feeling nostalgic, certain things bring me comfort – Disney films, grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate milkshakes, and comic books. I think the recent passing of Fess Parker exacerbated my nostalgia as his portrayal of Davy Crockett in the Disney films and Daniel Boone in the non-Disney TV show were a pleasant part of my childhood.
Roger’s Comic Ramblings: Magic Time
by Roger Ash
“What the heck is magic time, Roger?”
Good question! For the purpose of this column, “Magic Time” refers when comics were magic to you. I’ve found that with many of my friends this is the time shortly after you discovered comics and they had the biggest impression on you. It’s the time when you couldn’t wait for new comic day at your local comic shop, or if you’re old like me, when you’d haunt the spinner rack at the local convenience store looking for new issues of your favorite comics. Or when you were sure every UPS truck that drove down the street had your latest shipment from Westfield. (Yes, I know Westfield doesn’t ship by UPS now, but they did back when I was a customer.)
Too Much Cool Stuff – Not Enough $$$! – August ‘09
by KC Carlson
Long-time Westfield readers might remember that I used to do a regular recommendations column back in the days when our computers still ran on coal. For those many thousands of generations of comics fans who were born since then, I’d like to explain, for a second or two, how my recommendations work, since there’s no real overt logic at work here.
KC Column: Into each life some reign must fall, some days be dark and dreary
by KC Carlson
We’ll return to our discussion of Big Comic Book Events, and specifically, Marvel Comics’ current Big Events, after this slight digression – which I promise will make sense later. Thank you.