Friday 30 November 2018

When Set Design calls... (Dave's Weekly Update #263)

Hi, Everybody!

Heeeeeere's Dave:



Comicslink is here, contradicting Dave, they end on the fourth.

The Kickstarter for the birthday card. By "final moments," Dave must mean, "two weeks" because the Kickstarter ends on December 14th.

And I can't find any "Dark Class" TV shows, but "Deadly Class" is set in 1987, and they filmed in Vancouver. And "Lost Innocence " is from the Deadly Class comic. It's Deadly Class.

And if you wanna get in on the Vark Wars, ya gots a few hours left. All submissions to thevarkwars@gmail.com

Next Time: Who wants to talk about Cirin?

Thursday 29 November 2018

Three Days at the Regency

MARGARET LISS:
A few years ago I scanned all of Dave Sim's notebooks. He had filled 36 notebooks during the years he created the monthly Cerebus series, covering issues #20 to 300, plus the other side items -- like the Epic stories, posters and prints, convention speeches etc. A total of 3,281 notebook pages detailing his creative process. I never really got the time to study the notebooks when I had them. Just did a quick look, scanned them in and sent them back to Dave as soon as possible. So this regular column is a chance for me to look through those scans and highlight some of the more interesting pages.

We just saw a page from Dave Sim's fourth Cerebus notebook this past May in A Well Equipped Bar. Covering issues #41 through 44, it had 99 out of 108 pages scanned. Occasionally when I'm looking through a notebook, I'll see a page with a preliminary sketch of a cover. I'll check the Cerebus Cover Art Treasury to see if the page is in there. Sometimes they are, and sometimes they aren't.
I found one that isn't in the book, page 79.

Notebook #4, page 79
It has a preliminary sketch for the cover to Cerebus #43, but with only Cerebus and Astoria, not the rest of the gang.

Cerebus #43 cover
The notebook page also has sketches of Cerebus chewing with food hanging out of his mouth, and him sitting at a table with someone whom I'm guessing is Lord Cedric and Lord Tamismet according to the dialogue on the page. Though I can't find where in High Society this was used, Dave also has a bunch of notes for the different animated Cerebus stories. Perhaps this was one of those that he didn't use.

Wednesday 28 November 2018

Cerberus In Hell? in stores TODAY!


Benjamin Hobbs:

In stores today: CERBERUS IN HELL? #1!

Strangely, the mock-up has the correct month listed.

Now available to pre-order from Diamond:

Strip courteous of the amazing David Birdsong.

Next week: More Cerebus In Hell?  goodness!

Tuesday 27 November 2018

Insane Cerebus Fan Theories (#1) (part two. Don't worry, it's only a two parter.)

Hi, Everybody!

Comicslink is here!

The Kickstarter for the birthday card.

The Vark Wars continue. If you want in: thevarkwars@gmail.com, ya got til Friday...


                                                                                                                                           


Okay, continuing from yesterday:

So, having pitched my theory to Dave, he shot me down like I was Snoopy in a Sopwith Camel.

End of story right?

Well, it wouldn't be an 
Fan Theory if it did...

So Dave said:
After the Big Trauma, Lord Julius never again had any kind of influence over Jaka for obvious reasons.  She was certainly capable of portraying herself as the loving niece and completely ignoring the Big Trauma in her dealings with her uncle but always on her own terms.  I mean, picture the level of profound wilfulness that would allow a twelve-year-old princess to be dancing in taverns.  The sensible thing for Lord Julius to do was to send some people to get her, but the Big Trauma was pretty well incandescent to the point of emitting its own level of radiation capable of melting lead.  All you could do was to keep a few Iestan undercover guards nearby and let her dance in taverns and hope for the best. 
Now, it's a nice theory, but does the series actually support it?

Well, here's the "Big Trauma":
From Jaka's Story...
...courtesy CerebusDownloads.com...
...Thank You very much...
Yup, "Big Trauma"!

Except, the text bits of Jaka's Story are written by Oscar, and we know that Jaka refutes his accounts in Going Home:




So, wait, Jaka ran away at twelve, and never went back, BUT used up multiple dance cards at every dance and ball?

I'd say the Trauma couldn't have been THAT Big.

And then there's THIS bit from Jaka's Story:



Which plays off of this bit from High Society:




But I still say Lord Julius and Jaka were in cahoots somewhat, or else how do you explain this bit from the end of High Society?


So dang mysterious...
And that dang black shirt was the same one...


I mean look at it!!!
Next Time: HOBBS!!! YOU'RE UP!!!

Monday 26 November 2018

Insane Cerebus Fan Theories (#1) (Um...part one)

Hi, Everybody!

Comicslink is here!

The Kickstarter for the birthday card.


The Vark Wars continue. If you want in: thevarkwars@gmail.com, ya got til Friday...


                                                                                                                                           

So, here's a post I was going to run when Reading Cerebus (which I'm beginning to suspect ISN'T going to be coming back from its hiatus,) got to issue #36, "The Night Before." It's a little fan theory of mine from back in my simply enjoying Cerebus days.

I'll let you guys decide if it's an
Fan theory

Okay, so the backstory to set this up. In Issue #6, Cerebus met Jaka:
All images courtesy CerebusDownloads.com
And we didn't hear from her again until Issue #16 (when a letter she wrote Lord Julius appears):
We'll come back to issue #16...
Jaka doesn't show up again until Issue #36:
An Iconic appearance to say the least...
Well, something always bugged me about Jaka's showing up.

Remember, at this point in High Society, Cerebus is on the rise, and is trying to prove he should be the Ranking Diplomatic Representative to Iest from Palnu. He's also hitched his rising star to Astoria, Lord Julius' ex-wife. In Issue #35, "The Evening Before" while Cerebus and Astoria are entertaining the Prime Minister of Iest, Lord Julius shows up.

Here's the last three pages of Issue #35, to kinda show the point I'm leading up to:




Basically, Lord Julius is master of manipulation. He's holding Petuniacon at the Regency, and nominating Elrod to be Cerebus' replacement as ranking diplomatic representative. All to mess with Cerebus.

But that's not all, knowing that his Ex is working with Cerebus, Julius sends his niece to seriously throw Cerebus off his game.

AND, my "proof" is Jaka's outfight in "The Night Before":


Now where have we seen a shirt like that before?


That's right, Issue #16, the last time Cerebus and Lord Julius were together before Issue #35...

Back in the Yahoo Cerebus Group, I brought this up, and we made it the Wildcard question in our 5 Questions to Dave for Volume 13: GOING HOME:
WILDCARD: Julius appears to be a master at manipulating Cerebus (anong others). The last time we see Lord Julius and Cerebus together in the first volume, Cerebus is wearing the furry black shirt (when Cerebus leaves Palnu, he is in shadow and we can't see what he may or may not be wearing.) We also learn that Jaka is soon to arrive in Palnu (which "debunks" the theory/story told in "Jaka's Story" that Jaka was missing and nobody knew where she was and Julius was looking for her (itself debunked at the end of "Jaka's Story")) and that she has made Julius aware of her connection to Cerebus. Then the next time we see Cerebus and Jaka (in High Society page 209), Jaka is wearing a furry black shirt. Given the context of the story (Cerebus has just changed into his Candidate duds to impress the Prime Minister of Iest, whom Cerebus was entertaining with Astoria when Lord Julius walks in and berates Cerebus. When Cerebus is informed that Jaka is there to see him.), I have the supposition that "The Night Before" meeting was set up by Julius in order to throw Cerebus off his game for Petuniacon (Cerebus's game, not Julius's). And Jaka's wardrobe was a very subtle clue to this. Jaka DID want to see Cerebus and give him his sword, but Julius was the one who decided when and where Jaka could do that. In fact, looking at Jaka's furry black shirt, it looks to have aardvark proportions, theoretically, it's the same shirt from issue 16. So my question is this: Is my supposition correct? (Regarding the meeting, not the shirt.) Was Jaka sent to meet with Cerebus by Julius to mess with Cerebus's head? Also, was Julius using Jaka to try to manipulate Cerebus later in "High Society" (page 467-ish)?

DAVE: After the Big Trauma, Lord Julius never again had any kind of influence over Jaka for obvious reasons.  She was certainly capable of portraying herself as the loving niece and completely ignoring the Big Trauma in her dealings with her uncle but always on her own terms.  I mean, picture the level of profound wilfulness that would allow a twelve-year-old princess to be dancing in taverns.  The sensible thing for Lord Julius to do was to send some people to get her, but the Big Trauma was pretty well incandescent to the point of emitting its own level of radiation capable of melting lead.  All you could do was to keep a few Iestan undercover guards nearby and let her dance in taverns and hope for the best.  You see it a lot in our society where you have this disproportionate awareness of the GAMMA RADIATING FEELINGS of little girls which leads to outright capitulation to those FEELINGS in more and more instances which really skews families in weird directions causing them to adopt as realities peculiar notions that are actually just immature female fantasies.  It’s certainly, it seems to me,  more sensible to hold to the view that Big Traumas are actually little traumas blown out of proportion and to enforce that view by force if necessary until the little princess figures out that she only thinks she’s the center of the universe.  But the potential is always there once capitulating to little girls becomes (as it has become in our society) the new normal.. 

    The furry tops was really just because I liked doing fur textures with the Hunt 102 pen nib.  Like Charles Shulz with his raindrops.  We all have our favourite textures. 

    In the case of the sweater that Jaka is wearing, that was actually a sweater that Deni owned and that she bought when we had only been married a short time.  It was an expensive item, as I recall, and versatile because it was black so it went with everything.  It had that exaggerated scoop neck that showed off nice blouses very well and mid-length sleeves.  I think she owned it for a few years before she noticed one day that the label was in the front, which, of course was when she realized that she had been wearing it backwards all along.  It was actually a crew neck collar in the front with a scooped back.  She tried it on that way and it looked terrible but she still had to fight with herself to wear it after that because she had become acutely aware that it was on backwards and never felt quite comfortable wearing it again.  Even though it looked great when she was wearing it backwards and lousy when it was on the right way around.

   A woman’s lot is not an easy one. 
Which blows my theory out of the water...

Next Time: Or does it?

Sunday 25 November 2018

TL:DR: The Genesis Question part twenty-nine

Hi, Everybody!



17 August 14

Dear Troy & Mia; David & Marie:

Ezekiel 30, as I read it, really just reiterates Ezekiel 29 but also advances the merging of the judgement of God (Lord GOD) and YHWH (the LORD) so that they're pretty much overlapping, as can be seen in the first three verses (the expression of God, as I read it, non-italicized):

The word of the YHWH came again unto me, saying, Son of man, prophecy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Howl ye, woe worth the day.  For the day near, even the Day of the YHWH near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.

"The time of the heathen" seems to me more than a little ambiguous, which I see as being extensively reflected in the text in the later Ezekiel chapters.  I mean, in the one sense, both God and YHWH are empowering Nebuchad-rezzar, king of Babylon -- definitely "Not God" -- as an instrument of God, an instrument powerful enough to lay waste Egypt and to enslave Israel.  So, in the Largest Sense, God appears to be working at cross purposes to Himself: taking the YHWH's side against His own followers.  Which would certainly make it "the time of the heathen".  In the second sense, it's another way of saying "the heathen's time is up". 

God and YHWH actually share verse 6 so that you can't tell who is speaking, compelling the inference that they're both saying the same thing:

Thus saith the YHWH, They also that uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. 

I'm not sure that the attribution at the end of verse 6 isn't misplaced and actually belongs to verse 7.  That is, the YHWH speaks in verse 6 and God speaks in verse 7:

And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.

It's a more qualified judgement, elaborating on what "the time of the heathen" means.  There will be desolation, but not absolute desolation.  There will be "wasted Egyptian" cities but there will be other cities which won't be wasted.

Then the YHWH speaks again (as I read it) over the course of verses 8 and 9:

And they shall know that I, the YHWH, when I have set a fire in Egypt and all her helpers shall be broken.  In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships, to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh. 

It isn't completely clear that "the time of the heathen" and "the day of Egypt" are the same thing, although the compelled inference is that they are -- that the "day of Egypt" is, contextually, part of the "time of the heathen".  God then keeps the sense of mutual judgement going in verse 10 (note the use of the term "also" -- as in "Me, too"):

Thus saith the Lord GOD, I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchad-rezzar, king of Babylon. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.

It's an interesting way of phrasing it.  "He and his people with him".  It refers -- or seems to -- both to Pharaoh and his people and Nebuchad-rezzar and his people.  The slain and his people and the slayer and his people.  It overlaps in the same way that God and YHWH's judgement appears to.  Equally interesting is the use of the term "brought" as opposed to "sent" in the previous verse.  You "bring" something to where you are.  "Bring it here".  What God seems to be saying is "YHWH is Egypt and is bringing (literally!) this destruction to his/her/itself and upon his/her/itself."

I will make the rivers drought [replies the YHWH, which, to me, is equally interesting -- a kind of subordinate threat -- because water is God's medium] and sell the land into the hand of the wicked, and I will make the land waste and the fullness thereof, by the hand of strangers: I the YHWH have spoken.

God appears more than willing to trade metaphorical punches:  the rivers might be made drought, but YHWHistic-style idol-worship is also under direct threat (again, note the "Me, too" use of "also"):

Thus saith the Lord GOD, I will also destroy the idols and I will cause images to cease out of Noph: and there shall be no more a Prince of the land of Egypt, and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

The switch from "King of Egypt" to "Prince" is interesting, as well, considering the long-simmering dispute between God and YHWH over who is whose "son".  Which is the same relationship as that between a King and a Prince. 

Verses 14 to 19, I think are the YHWH's:

And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan and will execute judgements in No.  And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt and I will cut off the multitude of No.  And I will set fire in Egypt, Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder and Noph shall have distresses daily.  The young men of Aven and of Phibisheth shall fall by the sword: and these shall go into captivity.  At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.  Thus will I execute judgements in Egypt, and they shall know that I, the YHWH. 

I say this for a couple of reasons.

One, because I think the YHWH's judgements tend to overreach what is possible.  There are cities that are made "desolate" -- Babylon is a good example: there's virtually nothing left of Babylon "that mighty city" but buried ruins and that's all that has existed of Babylon for many centuries -- but not nearly as many as the YHWH keeps promising.  Egypt certainly isn't made desolate.  Egypt still exists and thrives under that name. 

Second, it's usually only the YHWH who talks about "pouring my fury upon…" cities and peoples.  God isn't furious, I don't think.  God has nothing to be furious about.  God is measured and shows great temperance in His judgements, as befits an omniscient being. Babylon will "fill the land with the slain" in God's judgement upon Egypt.  Which is no "day at the beach" but falls well short of making Egypt "desolate". 

You can see this in the balance of the chapter when we skip ahead to the aftermath of Babylon's visitation upon Egypt when the YHWH speaks to Ezekiel and says:

Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a ruler to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.

Breaking the arm of Pharaoh -- even to the extent of it being impossible to heal (which doesn't prove, historically, to be completely true) -- is very different from making Egypt desolate.  God seems to address this in the next two verses but in a very interesting and largely oblique way (unless you're watching for it):

Therefore, thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold I against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.  And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.

"Arms" plural.  Which has several meanings:  it can mean both of Pharaoh's physical arms -- the parts of his body -- or it can mean his weapons. Or it can mean both (or, more forensically accurate, I think, in this case: all three).

The reference to "the strong, and that which was broken" seems directed at the YHWH by God in that sense. "You broke Pharaoh's arm, YHWH, in a metaphorical sense, but the one you broke wasn't his strong arm, because you're incapable of that -- or even perceiving accurately what his strong arm is.  I, God, will break that one."

Which the YHWH then, in characteristic fashion, attempts to infer literally, rather than metaphorically.  Which, to me, reinforces God's point.  That Pharaoh's strongest arm is the nature of what Egypt is: a pagan stronghold of great endurance pre-existent to A Dam and Chauah who began our own monotheistic epoch. 

The YHWH, I don't think, entirely misses the reference to the strong arm ("and that which was broken"), but essentially has no clear idea what God means by it.  And, so, simply reiterates what God has already said, while making it clear that the YHWH, in using the term "arms", is referring to Necuchad-rezzar's physical arms, both of them, and to Pharaoh's physical arms, both of them: strengthening the former and weakening the latter: 

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms and he shall groan before him with the groanings of   a deadly wounded man.  But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down, and they shall know that I, the YHWH, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon & he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.

Which, of course, just reinforces God's earlier point:  by inferring that "arm" and "arms" refer only to personal limbs, the YHWH hasn't actually broken Pharaoh's stronger arm -- what Egypt is and what Egypt represents -- just his weaker one: how militarily strong and materially wealthy Egypt is. 

It's almost as if, at the last second, the YHWH does get a clearer picture of this and -- instead of pronouncing a judgement whereby Nebuchad-rezzar -- with the sword put it into his hand by the YHWH -- would eradicate Egypt or utterly destroy Egypt, the YHWH backs off and just says of the King of Babylon that "he shall stretch it [his sword] upon the land of Egypt."  And then exactly mirrors God's own qualified judgement in the last verse of the chapter:

And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries and they shall know that I, the YHWH.

Next week, God willing, on to chapter 31!

Best,

Dave


Next Time: Stuff!

Saturday 24 November 2018

January previews stuff

Hi, Everybody!

Comicslink is here!

The Kickstarter for the birthday card.


The Vark Wars continue. If you want in: thevarkwars@gmail.com, ya got less than a week...

And Then:

Travis Pelkie returns with his regular monthly selection for Cerebus fans of comics and books featured in the latest Diamond Previews catalog. Travis is co-founder of the Atomic Junk Shop, a site about comics and other fun pop culture. To see your comics featured here or at the Atomic Junk Shop feel free to send an email to Travis at: atomicjunkshoptravis [at] outlook [dot] com.



GIANT SIZE JINGLES #1
(W) Dave Sim (A) Gustave Dore, Dave Sim (CA) Benjamin Hobbs
Giant-Size Firsts! First Overstreet Price Guide "Take Note" Note! First appearance of Fiendix Cosplay Cerebus and zer Silicone implants! First All-Jingles, comics' only CGC-graded dog comics collector, issue! Find out what Jingles has to say about: Underdog No.1 (May, 2017); Jughead's Pal Hot Dog (1990); Krypto The Super-Dog (2006); The original Hot Dog (1954); blatant "Dogism" in DC's flagship title vs. the "canine friendly" Adventure ComicsDog Face Dooley (1951); Scooby-DooNo.26; Why you really don't want to mention Heckle & Jeckle to Jingles; Pluto vs. Goofy; and more!

Travis sez: It's that book set in hell with the talking dog and stuff.  You may have heard of it before.  It should be funny.


DC THE NEW FRONTIER TP NEW ED BLACK LABEL
(W) Darwyn Cooke (A/CA) Darwyn Cooke
The masked mystery men who fought for freedom in the Second World War have been outlawed. The soldiers and spies who conducted top-secret missions into the unknown now work in the shadows. And those icons who do still fight on -- Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman -- operate under hidden agendas and dueling ideologies. Yet this America needs its heroes more than ever. With darkness gathering on the horizon once more, only a bold new generation of adventurers -- young, daring, and dedicated to the better angels of our nature -- is equal to the challenge of the New Frontier.

This edition collects the original 6-issue miniseries together with the Justice League: New Frontier Special, and features over 50 pages of designs, sketches and preliminary artwork from the author.


Travis sez: A new edition of Darwyn Cooke's ode to the Silver Age.


DC UNIVERSE BRONZE AGE OMNIBUS BY JACK KIRBY HC
(W) Jack Kirby, Dennis O'Neil, Joe Simon, Joey Cavaleri, Michael Fleisher, Paul Kupperberg (A) Vince Colletta, D. Bruce Berry, Adrian Gonzales, Others (A/CA) Jack Kirby, Mike Royer
Legendary comics creator Jack Kirby's mind-boggling imagination is on full display in this massive hardcover that includes tales of super hero adventure, mystery, war, fantasy, science fiction and even kung fu action from the 1970s and 1980s. These stories introduced important characters, including the Demon and OMAC, and this collection features a run of 12 stories of the Losers from OUR FIGHTING FORCES that includes some of Kirby's most personal tales from his own experiences in World War II. Collects stories from IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB #1, SPIRIT WORLD #1, THE DEMON #1-16, THE SANDMAN #1-6, OMAC #1-8, OUR FIGHTING FORCES #151-162, SUPER POWERS #1-5 (1984), SUPER POWERS #1-6 (1985), 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL #1, 5 and 6, DC COMICS PRESENTS #84, RICHARD DRAGON, KUNG FU FIGHTER #3, WEIRD MYSTERY TALES #1-3 and FORBIDDEN TALES OF DARK MANSION #6.


Travis sez: Kirby.  DC.  Bronze Age.  Basically everything that's not Fourth World or Kamandi, I believe.  Also, it comes out on my birthday next year, in case any of y'all want to get me a present.

TRUE BELIEVERS CONAN SWORDS IN NIGHT #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #23

Travis sez: With the new Conan series at Marvel, they are reprinting a selection of Marvel Conan books from the past in their True Believers dollar books.  The most interesting is this one, reprinting Conan 23, which is the first appearance of Red Sonja.  Who is currently published by Dynamite, so I'm not sure why or how Marvel can reprint this.  We'll find out if they cancel it!









KIRBY IS FANTASTIC HC KING SIZE
(W) Stan Lee (A/CA) Jack Kirby
Kirby is the greatest storytelling mind in comic book history. Kirby is an architect of the world's most-famous universe of characters. Kirby is...Fantastic!
The first in a line of super-giant "King-Size" hardcovers celebrating the incomparable talent of Jack "The King" Kirby, Kirby is...Fantastic! brings together a selection of all-time great issues from his tenure on Fantastic Four.
Featuring the 1960s debut of the Sub-Mariner, knitting together Marvel's Silver and Golden Ages; earth-shaking battles between the Thing and the Hulk; the debut of the Black Panther; the unveiling of the utopian man-god "Him" (a.k.a. Adam Warlock); a life-or-death epic battle with Doctor Doom in the heart of Latveria; and a deadly trip into the Negative Zone topped off by the history-making birth of Franklin Richards.
Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #4, #12, #25-26, #52-53, #66-67, #84-87 & ANNUAL #6.


Travis sez: Another Kirby book, although I'm not sure if this one's physical dimensions are actually big.  It's great stuff, though, of course, because it's Stan and Jack on the FF!!!


HEY KIDS COMICS TP (MR)
(W) Howard Victor Chaykin (A) Howard Victor Chaykin (CA) Don Cameron
HEY KIDS! COMICS! takes its cue from nearly a century of turbulence and triumph, despair and drama in the comics racket.
  
Artists and writers, con men and clowns, ganefs and gangsters create the foundations of today's biggest entertainment business-or at least the tail that wags the dog.
  
Some of it really happened, and the names have been changed to protect the innocent and guilty... 
...although in the end, everyone was guilty of something.

Collects HEY KIDS! COMICS! #1-5

Travis sez: Howard Chaykin with some of the dirty little secrets behind the making of the business of comics.  Should be good!
Matt says: I've read the first two issues, it is so far.


BERNIE WRIGHTSON ARTIFACT ED HC NEW PTG
(W) Bernie Wrightson (A/CA) Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson began his career in the late 1960s, just barely out of his teens, and within a decade, rose to prominence as the preeminent horror artist of his generation. This loving tribute to comics' Master of the Macabre will showcase Wrightson's groundbreaking work in the DC Comics Mystery books and his legendary artistic turn on Swamp Thing. Additionally, we have assembled a number of rarely seen and completely (until now) unseen treasures.

New Printing!
152 pages plus THREE foldouts with SIX oversized pieces of art! Includes NINE Swamp Thing covers (House of Secrets #92 and Swamp Thing #1, #3-6, #9, and others) and tons of Mystery covers, frontis pieces, and pages.


Travis sez: It's a new printing of one of IDW's beautiful looking art books featuring Bernie Wrightson art on DC mystery comics and on Swamp Thing.  So atmospheric!


AM ARCHIVES THREE STOOGES #1 1953 SAINT JOHN EDITION
NOV181463
(W) Joe Kubert, Norman Mauer (A/CA) Joe Kubert, Norman Mauer
Remember when comics were a dime and you could get that first issue of Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer's Three Stooges #1 from the local newsstand? We don't either! It costs a couple hundred bucks now to get that issue from an auction site, and it ain't fair! So, we are bringing back this classic from 1953 in all its original eye-poking glory for today's readers to enjoy. This is the first collaboration of The Stooges and the classic comics duo of Kubert and Maurer and you can get it for 399 cents!

Travis sez: It's the Three Stooges in comics from the early '50s, and it's got art by Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer.  Of course you want to get it!


FRANK THORNES LANN LTD HC GN (MR)
(W) Frank Thorne (A/CA) Frank Thorne
Move over Barbarella, here comes Lann! While Frank Thorne is known primarily for his works Ghita (with a deluxe archival reprint by Hermes Press in 2017 and Volume 2 coming in 2019) and Red Sonja, he also created the sexy cyber heroine Lann! Lann spends 98% of her time solving crime while naked, so it's a special kind of fantasy for sure! This space comic features guns, salacious scantily clad ladies, comedy (her sidekick often fights unarmed...due to his arms falling off!), and more! This deluxe limited edition is limited to 1,000 copies! It will also contain a historical essay and never before seen Frank Thorne art!

Travis sez: Friend of Cerebus Frank Thorne has this collection of Lann, who apparently solves crime while naked, as one does.  I'm sure it's classy.

MIDWAY FROM PAGES OF COMBAT ONE SHOT GLANZMAN CVR
(W) Paul S. Newman (A/CA) Sam Glanzman
Each Combat one shot features true stories from World War II, illustrated by comic book legend, WWII vet, and Eisner Award-nominee Sam Glanzman! This Midway issue features the main story: "Battle of Midway" plus the back-up story "Out the Gate", 1-page story "High Ground," and essays about General George Patton, Jr. and Sam Glanzman. Incentive cover by comic book legend Russ Heath!

Travis sez: Friend of Cerebus Drew Ford has another one shot from Sam Glanzman coming out from his It's Alive imprint.  Should be good like usual!




JUMBO MUMBO SC (JUL189042) (MR)

(W) David Tosh (A) R. Crumb, Walt Kelly, Jay Lynch (CA) Denis Kitchen
Mumbo has delighted comics fans for many years. Containing interviews, sketchbook pages, classic comics and comic strips from the likes of famous artists like R. Crumb, Denis Kitchen, Jay Lynch and Walt Kelly among others, Jumbo Mumbo collects David Tosh's personal comics journal, for the first time. In addition, covering history, personal stories and commentary on comics of the past, this volume presents work you won't see anywhere else. As a Heritage Auctions employee, David has had access to rare collections and unique and interesting work previously unavailable. Jumbo Mumbo is a must-have for anyone with a love for the history of comics and a desire to learn more.

Travis sez: I'm not entirely sure what this is, but the dude is a Heritage Auctions employee and he's gotten some cool underground comix artists to contribute to his book.

"Image coming soon"
MARVEL ACTION BLACK PANTHER #1 BAKER
NOV180605
(W) Kyle Baker (A/CA) Kyle Baker
Readers of all ages can get lost in the technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda as they follow the adventures of its monarch, the Black Panther! King T'Challa is responsible for defending his people-and the world-from any threats. And he gets plenty of help-and sass-from his genius sister Shuri. A Marvelous new era begins here!  A bold new era for Black Panther begins here! From the mind of multiple Eisner and Harvey award winner Kyle Baker!

Travis sez: Because Marvel can't do their own kid friendly comics, IDW has to, and they enlisted the great Kyle Baker to do Black Panther, so it should be awesome.

Next Time: Dave discusses that guy who discussed Genesis.