Advance Warning: The Twelve Days of Classic Comics Christmas 2012

[spoon_jenkins]

Sounds interesting. I gotta get on this, because sometimes I neglect to work up a list and before I know it, I miss out on the year's Classic Comics Christmas.

For example, the 1960s 10-issue Spectre series is eligible but the Fleisher/Aparo stories from Adventure Comics #431-40 are not (though the reprints in the Wrath of the Spectre mini-series are!).

This is an interesting twist because it will "save" certain runs.

Questions: Are less frequently published titles like quarterlies and annuals eligible? Some quarterlies seem like they be within the spirit of the rules. On the other, it seems like a series of annuals are within the letter of law as currently drafted, but may or may not be within the spirit of the law. There's a gap of a year or more between issues, and there an adjunct of sorts to a monthly series that goes far beyond 12 issues. And Giant-Size Such-and-Such seems to fall in between those categories.

[shaxper]

Okay, specific question time:

Stan Sakai's Space Usagi will probably be making my list. It was one nine issue story, but it was spread out across three separate renumbered mini-series, and not published continuously. Thus, there's a vol. 1 with issues #1-3, a vol. 2 published one year later with issues #1-3, and a third volume published several years after with issues #1-3, all telling one complete 9 part story.

Do I have to choose one of the volumes, or can I count the greater 9 part Space Usagi story?

[shaxper]

Oh, and for what it's worth, I already have my list narrowed down to 23 possibilities.

- Eight are still sitting on my "To Read" list, and I now have a reason to get to them quickly
- Three more were on my "To Read" list until today :)
- Virtually all of the others will require refresher re-reading

So this is the most reading I will have ever had to do for a Classic Comics Christmas, and I'm kinda' loving it!

[dan bailey]

Thank the gods that Brother Power the Geek made it to #3.

I summon the sigh of relief!

[dan bailey]

On the other hand, one of my favorite series of all time lasted an accursed 13 issues.

I summon the doubly unlucky number!

[dan bailey]

I do foresee a problem with some series that may have run for less than 12 issues, was cancelled, and then came back with additional issues with the same numbering. Such as Plastic Man which ran for 10 issues in the 60s and then came back in the 70s after a long absence (with a very different direction). Or New Gods which ran for 11 issues by Kirby in the early 70s, then was cancelled, but came back in the late 70s with a non-Kirby creative team.

I see that the Sinister Cei-U! has ruled such series ineligible, but I herewith register a protest against that decree. Take, for instance, Inferior 5. It lasted 12 issues (a 10-issue stint to begin with, followed by 2 reprint issues a few years later). As unlikely as it is to happen, under Kurt's interpretation, if DC were to briefly go nuts & decide to come out with an ish #13 next week, the original would suddenly be rendered ineligible, 3-odd decades after that fact.

That strikes me as highly illogical.

While the respective intervening absences from the newsstand are far shorter for the titles Ear cites, I see the principle as being the same. Kirby's New Gods ended with #11. The second version that came out later in the decade happened to continue the numbering, apparently (I paid no attention to either the original or any of the subsequent incarnations, so I'll take the poster's word for it ... but I did pay attention to the 2nd version of Mister Miracle, & much the same thing happened), but otherwise it just happened to make use of the same title & numbering; if the subsequent incarnation had started with #1 (as would certainly be the case today, thanks to the in[s]anity of the collector-driven direct market), no one would've batted an eye.

Otherwise, that second go-round was no more a continuation of the original than, say, Power of Shazam #48 (published as part of a several-title "Blackest Night" tie-in stunt by DC in late 2009) was of the original 47-issue series that bit the dust 11 years earlier.

[shaxper]

While the respective intervening absences from the newsstand are far shorter for the titles Ear cites, I see the principle as being the same. Kirby's New Gods ended with #11. The second version that came out later in the decade happened to continue the numbering, apparently (I paid no attention to either the original or any of the subsequent incarnations, so I'll take the poster's word for it ... but I did pay attention to the 2nd version of Mister Miracle, & much the same thing happened), but otherwise it just happened to make use of the same title & numbering; if the subsequent incarnation had started with #1 (as would certainly be the case today, thanks to the in[s]anity of the collector-driven direct market), no one would've batted an eye.

In my mind, it's not the same volume that many years later, even if the numbering continues. GCD agrees with this interpretation, and I intend to run my list in that way.

Another such technicality I'm dealing with concerns Rai, a comic that will almost certainly be making my list. Rai lasted for 8 issues. With issue #9, it became Rai and the Future Force, not just a new title, but also a new protagonist utilizing the name of "Rai" as well. In short, both the indica and the spirit of the comic would concur Rai ended with issue #8. However, a few years down the line, when the "Future Force" approach had run its course, the series reverted back to being called "Rai" and featured yet another new protagonist using that name for eight more issues. According to the GCD, this was a whole new Rai volume, and I'm going to choose to interpret it that way as well.

[Scott Harris]

On the other hand, one of my favorite series of all time lasted an accursed 13 issues.

One of my picks lasted 13 issues as well, unfortunately.

I have a feeling my list is going to be very, very boring compared to everyone else's. I can think of a lot of really interesting series that ended by issue 12, but most of them I either haven't really read all the way through or can't really call them favorites. So my actual picks I fear are going to be pretty mainstream boring unless inspiration strikes.

[Cei-U!]

Questions: Are less frequently published titles like quarterlies and annuals eligible? Some quarterlies seem like they be within the spirit of the rules. On the other, it seems like a series of annuals are within the letter of law as currently drafted, but may or may not be within the spirit of the law. There's a gap of a year or more between issues, and there an adjunct of sorts to a monthly series that goes far beyond 12 issues. And Giant-Size Such-and-Such seems to fall in between those categories.

If the Annuals, Giant-Sizes, etc., meet all the other criteria, you bet they're eligible.

Okay, specific question time:

Do I have to choose one of the volumes, or can I count the greater 9 part Space Usagi story?

You can cite all three but you'd have to use three days' worth of entries.

Thank the gods that Brother Power the Geek made it to #3.

I summon the sigh of relief!

I'll go for it IF you post a scan of #3's cover.

I see that the Sinister Cei-U! has ruled such series ineligible, but I herewith register a protest against that decree.

Illogical they may well be, my boy, but them's the rules. I never promised you a rose garden. (If it makes you feel any better, I got screwed out of a few otherwise fine choices myself.)

Cei-U!
Startin' to dig this "hardass" vibe!

[shaxper]

Illogical they may well be, my boy, but them's the rules.

So then what about my Rai example?:

Another such technicality I'm dealing with concerns Rai, a comic that will almost certainly be making my list. Rai lasted for 8 issues. With issue #9, it became Rai and the Future Force, not just a new title, but also a new protagonist utilizing the name of "Rai" as well. In short, both the indica and the spirit of the comic would concur Rai ended with issue #8. However, a few years down the line, when the "Future Force" approach had run its course, the series reverted back to being called "Rai" and featured yet another new protagonist using that name for eight more issues.

[dan bailey]

Startin' to dig this "hardass" vibe!

Next up: The Alien & Sedition Acts. And for an encore, no more habeas corpus.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I'm running up against the 13 issue problem. I could include Rudolph--but there was that 13th issue Giant. Or Stumbo, no it went for 13. What about Captain Canuck--despite periods when it seemed the title had died, it did go for 14 issues.

And then there's the habit in the Golden Age of changing titles, but keeping the numbering--so no Phantom Lady or Rulah.

On the one hand, this just means I have to look elsewhere for shorter runs. But on the other hand, this tends to rule out lesser known publishers, other genres, and older books that I would have liked to include.

Oh well, back to the GCD.

[Scott Harris]

Okay, I have my list:

1. Spoof
2. Peter the Pest
3. Arrgh!
4. Fast Willie Jackson
5. Misty the Model
6...

Or, wait. Whoops, supposed to wait until December, my bad!

[Cei-U!]

So then what about my Rai example?:

That *is* a puzzler but if the actual title changed with #9, then I'd say Rai #1-8 qualifies.

Cei-U!
I summon the headscratcher!

[berk]

On the other hand, one of my favorite series of all time lasted an accursed 13 issues.

I summon the doubly unlucky number!

One of my picks lasted 13 issues as well, unfortunately.

I have a feeling my list is going to be very, very boring compared to everyone else's. I can think of a lot of really interesting series that ended by issue 12, but most of them I either haven't really read all the way through or can't really call them favorites. So my actual picks I fear are going to be pretty mainstream boring unless inspiration strikes.

One of mine as well ran to 13 issues, although I only read it in trade, anyway, and thus didn't know until I looked it up (it was Morrison's The Filth). I think I should be able to come up with 12 choices that qualify under the rules, though. Might have to do them in advance since I won't have access to the internet from the 20th to the 29th of December. I like the topic, but from the few qualifying titles that have occurred to me so far, I think my list will overlap with a lot of others, as most of them seem pretty obvious choices to me.