John Carter, Warlord of Mars Comic Score!

Despite the meager box office take of the new John Carter movie, I have to say that it was one of the best fantasy/sci-fi movies I have ever seen. I'm not kidding. And from what I've been reading on other blogs, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

The sad thing is that I never even read any of the original John Carter books by Edgar Rice Burroughs until I finally curled up with a copy of Princess of Mars about 2 years ago. I know, it's shameful.

However, I did grow up with our hero's adventures on Barsoom in the form of the classic Marvel comics from the 70s. I scored a few issues of the comic back in middle school and was immediately in love with the pulpy take of Earth's nearest neighbor and was quite taken with the melding of science fiction technology and the sword and sandal fantasy aspects of the stories, which reminded me of the original Masters of the Universe mini comics (which I now see were highly influenced by Burroiugh's tales) and the Saturday morning cartoon Blackstar (which was a borderline rip-off of the John Carter stories).

As the movie premier loomed, I found myself thinking back on the comics I read as a kid and had place a little post-it note in my brain to pick some up if I got the chance. And that chance came during my recent visit to Emerald City Comic Con when I stumbled onto a trove of John Carter comics, all in spectacular condition, in one dealer's dollar boxes.

$10 later and I was the proud owner of the first 10 issues of John Carter, Warlord of Mars. Just flipping though them shot me back in time to when I first discovered the Civil War soldier turned alien hero that I came to know in my younger days.

You can jolly well bet that I'll be hunkering down with these books again soon, and it'll be so good to be back on Barsoom.

Wonder Con Swag Report Part I: The Comic Book Haul!

You can't go to a comic book convention without walking out of there with an armload of comics. I mean, let's not forget that before all of the cosplay hotties, the steampunk gear booths, the massive t-shirt stands and the over-priced pizza slices, comic conventions were all about one thing; finding killer old comic books.

I did my best to not go crazy. I had limited funds for this con, and had to keep in mind that I had to fly all of my spoils home, and besides, I'm going to another comic convention next week. But that didn't stop me from raiding some of the cheap boxes at Wondercon. In fact, none of the following comics seen below (with the exception of the vintage Batman) cost more that 50¢. So take a look at the haul below and then think about the fact that I scored all of this for under $20.


I love comic book conventions.

First up, I has super-stoked to score a copy of Super Powers #1. But I was double-stoked to see who was featured on the cover...

Yeah, baby! Mister Miracle! Speaking of Scott Free, How gorgeous is this issue of Mister Miracle #2. Just look at that stunning Kirby artwork...

And of course, I took the opportunity to fill in some gaps in my Mister Miracle collection...

 

Another score came in the form of these four issues of the Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade movie adaptation. Which officially complete my Indy movie adaptation collection. This score was cool, because I bought issues 2 and 4 from one dealer, only to find issues 1 and 3 from a dealer two booths down. It was meant to be!

 I really let my wallet loose when I forked over a whopping $3 for this issue of 80 Page Giant Batman, from 1966, that is just packed with killer vintage artwork by the likes of Dick Sprang.

And, of course, I never go to a comic con without buying some Conan issues. That collection has to be close to being complete. I need to check.

 And when comics are that cheap, you can find yourself grabbing issues you would have normally have grabbed, such as these few issues of Sectaurs from Marvel, based on the vintage toy line. It's insect-men against arachnid-men!

 And here's the rest; a technicolor hodge-podge of  comic book goodness. There are some real gems in here. Well, gems when they're 50¢. Note the issue of Black Diamond #1 (an eye-opening comic when I was 12), yet another Spider-Ham issue and a couple of issues of a comic called Stalker, which looks like just the sort of thing I would have devoured as a young lad, unfortunately I just now discovered it last weekend.

 

 

 

Ahhhhh, just smell that aging wood pulp and decades old printer's ink... And if I'm not mistaken, I do detect the faintest whiff of high adventure...

More swag reports to come! (I bought some toys, too!)

Comic Lust: Batman - Brave and the Bold - Featuring Mister Miracle & Big Barda!

Any of you that have been following my past blog incarnations may remember my sudden discovery and immediate love for the Jack Kirby-created DC Comics escape artist extraordinaire, Mister Miracle and his curvacious crusher of a wife, the lovely Big Barda. And if any comic book was going to peel me away from the 25¢ bin and actually commit to paying (gasp!) half cover price, it would be this issue of Batman: Brave and the Bold costarring the 4th World's cutest couple...

I love how they tried to keep it a mystery as to who this character might be in the magnifying glass. Let's see, the silhouette is standing on Aero Disks, Big Barda looks worried, the tagline says it'll take a miracle... Hmmm...

I actually really love these Brave and the Bold comics with their crisp lines and confident design aesthetic., I mean, just look at the above spread. Two pages and ten panels of silent, vibrant action. And seriously, how badass is Barda?

I won't go too deep into the story, here. It's your usual comic fare, someone is in trouble, help comes, there's a bad guy, the bad guy gets defeated. I honestly just bought this for the sheer joy of seeing Scott Free and Barda drawn in this style. Look at the follow tip of the hat to Kirby's cover for Mister Miracle #1...

This issue does give some serious nods to the entire New Gods world, and you gotta love that, especially since these comics were aimed at a younger audience as a tie-in to the animated series (which I also loved). I'm okay with this type of "gateway drug".

So, like I said, some 4th World hooligans show up, but it's nothing that Miracle can't handle with the help of his Mother Box (dang, I want one of these!) and a Boom Tube to clean it all up.

I know I'm probably the only person in the entire universe that would want this, but how cool would an ongoing new Mister Miracle comic be in this style? Or better yet, a cartoon! Ah... one can dream.