Adventures in Comic-Boxing: "It's the Talk of the Teen"!

Here's an odd little filler feature from LOIS LANE # 16 (DC Comics: Cover Date: April, 1960) called "It's the Talk of the Teen"! 

It purports to be a look at current (read 1950s) teenage slang!  I have no idea how accurate it is, or is not - nor if it was just intended as an out-an-out humor piece... but behold how members of the hip, in-crowd of the later 1950s are alleged to have spoken! 

Hey, guess what?  "Roger" STILL means "O.K."!   

Anyone who cares to make their own joke about this last one below is welcome to do so... while I politely and modestly bow out! 

...Good night, folks!  

Public Domain Mickey with Deb!

It's been too long since we showcased any artwork from our great friend Debbie Anne Perry and, with (one very specific version of) Mickey Mouse in the public domain, Deb has delivered her unique commentary on the subject - along with her wonderful characters FLUFFY AND MERVIN! 

GOTTA LOVE THAT!  

"Whistle?" "Play 'Turkey in the Straw' on farm animals?" ...YAWN!  

Wake me when he becomes a DETECTIVE...

...Or a SPACE EXPLORER...

...Or a SUPER SECRET AGENT...

...Or a PILOT...

...Or a TIME TRAVELER...

...Or DRIVES A GHOST CAR...

...Or becomes an UNDERWATER EXPLORER... 

...Or even a (sorta sloppy) LUMBERJACK!

But, especially when he meets THIS GUY!   

...Um, "SteamBLOT Willie", anyone?  

Until then, Fluffy and Mervin can probably put him to good use...

...Um, g-good use?  

...Then again, maybe not!  

Perhaps we should wait around until PETE joins Mickey in the public domain...

After all, if "Steamboat Willie" is in the public domain... wouldn't that also apply to PETE (...and, of course, Minnie) - those specific versions, that is!  ...And Pete, whatever version, would certainly liven things up!  

 

Right, as usual, Mickey! "There IS only one flaw!" It'll be quite a while until THESE VERSIONS fall into the public domain!  ...Pete never figured on that, th' big lummox!  

But, hey... If I just tap my foot through another decade or so, will THE PHANTOM BLOT (...OR "The Blot", as he was originally called) be there as well?  

...THIS VERSION anyway?

Maybe then, I can REALLY do "SteamBLOT Willie"!

Oh, there's just so much to "unpack" from Steamboat Willie's Steamer Trunk!  ...Sorry, couldn't resist.  

Let's do so in the Comments Section... and have a great time, as we did so often in those good old days... before they, too, eventually become public domain!  

For instance, can PD Mickey even be presented IN COLOR... or with a COLOR BACKGROUND like this?  

Even if not, Deb's fully in compliance, as we all knew she would be...

REALLY GREAT JOB, DEB! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: If You're on a Highway, and Road Runner Goes "BEEP BEEP T"!

The seventies were a really weird time for what we know as "classic animated characters"!  

Case in point, this ad from JIMMY OLSEN # 155 (DC Comics, Cover Date: January, 1973)...

Which may be the most bizarre depiction of THE ROAD RUNNER AND WILE. E. COYOTE you might ever see!

Unless they, too, were strangely distorted for some inappropriate modern animated series that no one will remember in a few years, anyway! 

I know "kustom kars" were a big thing back then... but really! 

Did it have to come to this?  

In the seventies? Yeah, I guess so... 

PS: You've just GOTTA LOVE that Wile E. is PUSHING his tricked-up contraption, while RIDING A SKATEBOARD!  

Guess he typically couldn't get it to work - but then it'll suddenly run-away with him... and off the nearest absurdly high cliff!  

The Future is (almost) Now!

Coming soon is another wonderful book from Fantagraphics (...they sure have some track record, don't they?) MICKEY AND DONALD: FANTASTIC FUTURES collecting the stories that fall under the group title "Once Upon a Mouse in the Future"! 

Another superb effort done for the Disney 100th Anniversary and available to everyone on or about February 06, 2024!  

This is a very interesting book, and not just because I did four stories for it, but because it's a whole bunch of different takes on Mickey and the Gang - different types of story, and different types of art - each of which takes a classic Disney animated short and reimagines it "100 Years From Now"!  

But, there's more to it than just Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and sometimes Pluto cavorting around as they often did in those classic shorts... While the cover doesn't show it, you'll find Dr. Einmug, Chief O'Hara, and the Phantom Blot in these pages! 

...The classic shorts were never like this!  

I'd just gotten my contributor's copy as I write this post, so I really haven't dug into it beyond a cursory reviewing of my four stories - but I must say that the best of those four is "Mr. Mouse Takes a Space Trip", which magnificently turns "Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip" on it's great big round ears!  

...And there's even a hilarious "great big round ears" gag in the story! I cracked-up even while translating it from it's original Italian!  

I'll say no more beyond it having art perfectly suited to its setting and subject matter, but enough!  I want you all to enjoy it - and the whole darned book - to the fullest!  

And, you WILL enjoy it, too, from the editing expertise of The Incomparable David Gerstein, to the the dialogue stylings you love by Thad Komorowski, Jonathan Gray, and yours truly, this Future's looking Fantastic indeed! 

Between "Fantastic Futures" and THIS, 2024 is off to a great start, comics-wise!  

An "Ongoing" Mystery... At Last!

To kick off 2024, let's hit the ground running with some great news...

...Although I'll expect Shaggy and Scooby to do most of the "running" - and occasionally "hitting the ground", for that matter!  

THE WAIT IS OVER! THE HIATUS HAS PASSED! 

WHY, EVEN THE WAIT FOR THE HIATUS TO PASS IS OVER!!!

After TWO 12-Issue limited series starting in 2021 and 2022 respectively, one of the best and woefully underrated comic titles out there is FINALLY BACK AS AN ONGOING SERIES!!!

Of course, I'm referring to the one... the only (...unless you count the previous two such series)... THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES with its THIRD issue #1 from DC Comics, released on January 02, 2024!  ...Talk about celebrating a new year!  

And back it is, with its most iconic team of writer Sholly Fisch and artist Dario Brizuela - who've been bringing Batman and Scooby together since SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP #1 back in late 2023!

And have alternated over the runs of THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES Series 1...

...And Series 2!

And now it's back... EVERY MONTH (unless Warner Bros. Discovery cancels it because they've lost too much money on executive compensation, streaming overexpansion supplanting reliable-and-always-there-for-you physical media, and an almost endless list of bad decisions that have made this mega-merger a joke)!  

I sometimes lament my no longer doing my monthly comic reviews, as I did for SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP, but, in their place I've indexed (with the level of detail I'm noted for) every issue of THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES at GCD.  Not exactly a substitute, but worthy as my contribution, among the contributions of so many other dedicated individuals, toward making the Grand Comics Database THE best comics indexing and information site there is!  

Series 1 HERE!

Series 2 HERE!

New Series 3 HERE! 

Go take a peek at all of the great issues of THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES to be found there. If you haven't read them all before, perhaps you will after this!  

You won't regret it!  Now, I can start looking forward to reading and indexing the next issue... Same Bat-Scoob Time, same Bat-Scoob channel!