The First Day of Classic Comics Christmas 2012

[Captain Jim]

Almost right, Captain. It was originally advertised as J'emm Son of Mars, so it would have been related to the Martian Manhunter series, but it would have been about a different member of his race. Pretty much all they had to do was color him red instead of green, and change the references to Mars.
And this is a comic I wasn't expecting to see here, although I liked it quite a lot myself. I just never realized anyone really loved it, and I think it's great that they do!

You're right, it's coming back to me now. Knew it was something like that.

[METAROG]

#12. Prez #1-4 (1973)

Attachment 105673
Late 60s-early 70s DC is a treasure trove for this year's list--they were throwing a lot of non-superhero stuff at the wall and not much of it stuck. But a lot of it's interesting.

While Prez might appear a mis-guided, tone-deaf attempt by middle age guys to be "hip," it has the advantage of not seeming limited by expectations or imagination. Grandinetti's art is pretty wild, and the stories are totally off-the-wall. It's a great example of what was possible when comics didn't feel they had to be "realistic."

This was #15 on my list so it won't make it for me but this is a good choice. One of the more original concepts in comics that got overlooked back then but is much better in retrospect than most of the superheo stuff I collected. Some of the villains are just plain bizarre... should have had a better fate.

[benday-dot]

Some real nice picks to start things off. As can be counted on with the thoughtful people on this forum the choices early out of the gate are worthily thought provoking.

As became clear in the prelude thread it looks as though we are not going to be a seeing a lot of Watchmen type books or rather the overly obvious choices. I think Watchmen could have made my twelve and certainly From Hell probably ought to have, since it is brilliant act of comic book making, but i decided to leave Alan Moore to other times and places.

So far two titles have shown up that just missed my cut... Prez and Shade the Changing Man (and MWG... Shaxper is right to laud your well crafted defense of Ditko's strange bit of the strange 70's).

And a title has shown up that I always wanted to read but never have been able to... the Prisoner series, which the redoubtable Roquefort Raider highlights. After its appearance here I must remedy that.

A title I never heard of but now want to read is Reptisaurus' Bandy Man. A very compelling write up.

Good start!

[Brian Gravity]

And this is a comic I wasn't expecting to see here, although I liked it quite a lot myself. I just never realized anyone really loved it, and I think it's great that they do!

Glad you were surprised by my pick. My goal for this list is to choose more obscure and personal faves than the norm. Although it's going to be mighty hard not to include stuff like The Watchmen on here, I'm sure others will pick up my slack.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

RAW #1-8


I found these suckers at a Half-Price Book's comic bin for cheapo price as a teen and holy shit did they blow me away.

The stories in raw and others (whom I will share here) showed me what comics could and should be. You had creators pushing the boundaries of the comic medium; mature to surrealistic to bizarre stories; then the art work that SO different and wild from the American mainstream comics, you couldn't believe such art/stories could exist in the medium.

Then the had amazing contributions from Tardi, Swarte, Panter, Burns, Muñoz, Sampayo, Crumb, Tsuge, Moore, and a laundry list of writers, cartoonists and artists.

[JKCarrier]

12. Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Villains
(9 issues, 1972-1973)
I wasn't going to feature any reprint titles on my list, but I had to make an exception for this eclectic anthology that made such a big impression on me as a youngster. It was my introduction to many of DC's Golden Age characters, and perhaps more importantly, to classic artists like Jerry Robinson, Mort Meskin, Jack Burnley, et. al. Editor E. Nelson Bridwell had a great eye for picking out the best stuff to reprint. There was something different about those 1940s tales, they were darker and creepier than the Silver Age stories...the Paul Reinman-drawn Solomon Grundy story in #4 gave me nightmares. A great "variety pack" of rare classics.

[dupont2005]

RAW #1-8 and RAW vol 2 1-3 (I can do this right?)

I haven't read every issue but this is also one of my favorites. It may go on my list despite me still missing a few issues. Boy are these suckers expensive now

[Slam_Bradley]

Random thoughts on day one.

Off to a rousing start. Not a lot of "the usual suspects". And a number of books I've not read and some I'm just plain not familiar with. Dual Hawkworlds...odd.

I've only read the Marvel horror mags in Essential volumes. And no Zombie thus far.

Can pretty well guarantee we'll see 'Mazing Man again. At least I won't have to worry about a write up.

I bought Jemm off the newsstands. Haven't read it in years.

Interesting pick on the EC Classics. Valor and Impact were on my long lists.

Wanted was one of the last series to fall off the list. I really loved it and bought all the back issues mail-order. Very glad to see it here.

[benday-dot]

Yes, I am talking about that Sally Forth. The cheeky one or lets say it...the pervy one. Indeed, so consolingly perverse.

When Wally Wood was turning out all that stunning sci-fi material for Bill Gaines back in the halcyon days of EC comics I think he was really just waiting for the chance to do something like Sally Forth. Sure keep that space bubble helmet but spare the rest of the kit. And send up everything under the sun. Wood's brain was most caustic and voluptuous, and thus he did give us the ridiculous, hopelessly incorrect, taunting and sexy and silly adventures of the hapless Sally Forth.

It was vintage Wood, and one of the last things of remarkable gorgeousness that the old master would ever draw. Wood skewers everything, as is his wont. Wood even skewers Wood.

I can't imagine the army ever commissioning anything as obviously sexist as Sally Forth ever again. But I look at the short run strip (it was published in four issues by Wally Wood himself in tabloid comic book format in the mid -70's and Fantagraphics later collected it) as more of a kind with the underground books of the age and definitely a exemplar of what Wally Wood, one of comics indisputable titans, represented to the medium he adored, and even gave his life to.

(PS... Sally Forth is not easy or cheap to find, but potential fans should avoid the rather dreary, poorly drawn and blatantly pornographic second run Wally did later on. I don't have any of that material, but I hear I'm not missing much.)

[Cei-U!]

RAW #1-8 and RAW vol 2 1-3 (I can do this right?)

No, sorry, you can't. One or the other but not both, not on the same day anyway.

Cei-U!
I summon the sticking point!

[inferno]

12. Uncle Scrooge Comics Digest #1-5. (Gladstone, 1986-87)

Number 12 is a reprint title. I first started buying comics when I saw Carl Barks' name in the credits for DuckTales. This pocket-sized reprint volume was a good value at $1.25 or $1.50. Each issue led off with a longer classic Carl Barks' Scrooge story from the 1950s(-61), such as the origins of Magica DeSpell and Flintheart Glomgold. All great adventure stories, with good character-based comedy and thoughtful plotting. Issue 3 leads with "Tralla La," in which Scrooge goes to a cashless utopia to escape the pressures of his wealth, but winds up accidentally re-inventing both money and hyper-inflation:

......


The rest of the volumes' 96 or 100 pages are filled out by non-Barks Scrooge stories, Gyro Gearloose backups that originally ran in Uncle Scrooge, and stories from Beagle Boys and Huey, Dewey and Louie Junior Woodchucks where Scrooge usually served as the antagonist.

E.g., from issue 5, a spread of the last page of a Barks-scripted Junior Woodchucks story and the first page of an all-Barks Gyro Gearloose short:



Barks did scripts and layouts on most of the early 1970s Woodchucks stories represented in this digest series. One of his running gags was that in each story, the scoutleader had as a title a ridiculous (footnoted) acronym -- here, Tempestuous Assailer of Lackadaisicalness and Case-hardened Requirer of Absolute Nose-dipping, Kowtowing, Ear-cocking Regimentationalism (T.A.I.L.C.R.A.N.K.E.R.).

Note also, the typed code on the Gearloose splash, "US 13".) this indicates the story originated in Uncle Scrooge 13. These codes were in every story, which was helpful -- as was the page numbering with these pagecounts. The Gladstone editors were doing their best to present this material to new and old audiences. They also were putting out Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Walt Disney's Comics digests. None lasted more than seven issues before cancelation, however.


PS. Gotta love the benday-dots!

[Johnny P. Sartre]

No, sorry, you can't. One or the other but not both, not on the same day anyway.

Cei-U!
I summon the sticking point!

Okay, thank you!

and it's fixed

[Johnny P. Sartre]

I haven't read every issue but this is also one of my favorites. It may go on my list despite me still missing a few issues. Boy are these suckers expensive now

I wish they weren't so expensive or even better! They would get a reprint.

[inferno]

On the first day of Christmas, my memory gave to me...

The prisoner #1-4, DC comics.

This is an excellent series, but I haven't had a chance to fish it out of storage to check the indicia. Are the issues numbered "1, 2, 3, 4," or "a, b, c, d"?

Interesting that this is one of three tv/film properties named today.

What better way to start our holiday festivities than with a charming little title whose eponymous star is the rotting corpse of a morally-challenged businessman? (No, dan, it's not Mitt Romney's Comics and Stories!) I am, of course, talking about

#12. Tales of the Zombie #1-10

Wow, this series sounds excellent. I usually dig Gerber's stuff.

[dupont2005]

Yes, I am talking about that Sally Forth. The cheeky one or lets say it...the pervy one. Indeed, so consolingly perverse.

When Wally Wood was turning out all that stunning sci-fi material for Bill Gaines back in the halcyon days of EC comics I think he was really just waiting for the chance to do something like Sally Forth. Sure keep that space bubble helmet but spare the rest of the kit. And send up everything under the sun. Wood's brain was most caustic and voluptuous, and thus he did give us the ridiculous, hopelessly incorrect, taunting and sexy and silly adventures of the hapless Sally Forth.

It was vintage Wood, and one of the last things of remarkable gorgeousness that the old master would ever draw. Wood skewers everything, as is his wont. Wood even skewers Wood.

I can't imagine the army ever commissioning anything as obviously sexist as Sally Forth ever again. But I look at the short run strip (it was published in four issues by Wally Wood himself in tabloid comic book format in the mid -70's and Fantagraphics later collected it) as more of a kind with the underground books of the age and definitely a exemplar of what Wally Wood, one of comics indisputable titans, represented to the medium he adored, and even gave his life to.

(PS... Sally Forth is not easy or cheap to find, but potential fans should avoid the rather dreary, poorly drawn and blatantly pornographic second run Wally did later on. I don't have any of that material, but I hear I'm not missing much.)

I always thought the later ones were just reprinted material from the oversized floppies. I have the full run of that series. Also Cannon. Do you know if the Cannon comics with the color covers and presumably standard sized format are also a later series of original content?