Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Lion in Wait!

Nobody - but NOBODY - can draw 'em like Sergio Aragones!  

It's come to where I treasure each and every issue of GROO that comes out! 

 Just LOOK at all the DETAIL he puts into the stuff! 

Sergio Aragones aided and abetted by Mark Evanier are an unbeatable combination!  With that said, I invite you to enjoy a Sergio panel that brought an out-loud laugh to my lips, and a still greater appreciation for his talent to my heart!  

From HOUSE OF MYSTERY #175 (DC Comics, Cover Date: July-August, 1698), comes this single-panel cartoon from the first of a regular series called "Cain's Game Room". 

Cain takes over with this issue (above), with tingling stories, and entertaining games! 

Here's our host now, ready to take the kiddies to his Game Room! 

Click to enlarge and see all the detail behind the main title logo!

Cain is the caretaker of The House of Mystery and, starting in his first issue, he's clearly got many fun plans for his guests!  Have a peek below, why don't you! 

After emerging from what looks to be an infinite maze, this guy's heading for his "reward"... and it's not exactly a welcome hunk of cheese!  

Now, THERE'S a LAUGH-OUT-LOUD MOMENT... and I ain't, um... lion! 

I’m Not an Artist, But… Reading is Family Fun-damental!

Here's another oldie, while we tread the blogging equivalent of water, until we get to the promised Barks and Gottfredson posts...

And YES, I know Geox had already done this but - believe it or not - I'd actually done the post and sent it to my Reserve Archives well before his post appeared.  

Then, for a long while, I hesitated posting my version, so as not to compete with his... or (horrors!) be considered a plagiarist!  Anyway, at long (delayed) last, here it is!  Enjoy!  

I'm Not an Artist, But... let's examine a cover I've liked for a very long time... until I thought a little too hard about it as a writer... that of DELL GIANT # 38 Uncle Donald and His Nephews Family Fun (Dell Comics, Cover Date: November, 1960).

First of all, shouldn't it have been "UNCA Donald and His Nephews Family Fun", given the uncountable number of times that the WRITERS of these comics have referred to the character as "UNCA Donald" vs. calling him "Uncle Donald", but I'll chalk that up to a matter of branding and get to the heart of the matter. 

To give you a peek into my mind (...dare you accept the invitation?), this first occurred to me when updating the index to the issue at GCD. 

At a first glance, I gave this cover a synopsis of "Each member of the Duck family indulges in the reading preference of their choice.", because that's exactly what it looked like.  In furtherance of this, whoever indexed the original issue for GCD gave it an "Unofficial Title" of "All reading" - a seemingly accurate, if uninspired, description of the cover illustration.  

But is that earlier title, as well as my later synopsis, truly accurate?  

I'd say not... Why? Because not all the ducks ARE READING!  

The nephews are putting together a jigsaw puzzle... and Uncle Scrooge is just admiring a thousand-dollar bill!  I suppose you could argue that Scrooge *could* be "reading" the bill's serial number, name of the Secretary of the Treasury, or the line about "In Whomever Ducks Trust"... but sorry, Scrooge, I'm not buying it!  

You could even make the tenuous case that Daisy is WRITING in her Diary, and Grandma Duck is REMINISCING over her old photo album, leaving DONALD as the only one actually READING... but, since he's "reading" the "Investment News", he's probably just daydreaming, or something!  

Now, I'm Not an Artist, But... I must lay a goodly amount of the blame on the (choke!) writer (gasp!) - or more likely the editor, or designer who came up with and/or approved this particular image - and not artist Tony Strobl who, as he once told me, had little or no input into that stage of the creative process.  

While "I'm Not an Artist, But..." I am a WRITER, and here's how I would have "written" this scene... if, indeed, things like this are ever actually "written"...

Donald would be reading the latest issue of "Super Snooper Comics"! ...'Nuff said! 

Grandma Duck would be reading farm reports - or something touting these "newfangled electric cars" to come in the future, and wondering what all the fuss is about since she's had an old electric car since about 1910! 

Daisy would be reading a romantic novel... and becoming increasingly displeased with Donald over his lack of romanticism. 

Scrooge would be reading "The Web Street Journal", or some other financial publication... provided he found a discarded copy on the street. Scrooge gets free info AND there's less litter on the streets of Duckburg?  Win/Win, I'd say! 

And anyone who thinks that Huey, Dewey, and Louie would be reading anything other than The Junior Woodchucks Guidebook is banned from my Blog for at least a month!  

...Aaaaand, maybe I wouldn't put Donald so far in the background of what purports to be his own comic book!  Switch him with Scrooge, maybe!  

 ...Your thoughts? 

Separated at Mirth: Great Ball's O' Fire!

Well, maybe not exactly Separated at... "Mirth"... unless your idea of fun is being under attack by fireballs - but, for any of you Fireball Fanciers out there, we humbly submit... 

DONALD DUCK #101 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: (May, 1965)...

...And WONDER WOMAN #99 (DC Comics, Cover Date: July, 1958).

One thing they DO have in common is that both are breathtaking images!  DONALD DUCK #101 is by Carl Barks.  WONDER WOMAN #99 is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.  Each are the most classic artists for their respective characters - and it certainly shows here!  

And, while not a comic book cover, I'd be remiss if I didn't include this striking image from LOST IN SPACE, "Condemned of Space" (1967), with the Jupiter 2 narrowly avoiding a catastrophic collision... with guess what?!  

All three are guaranteed to "light up your life" in their own unique ways!  

Speaking of DuckTales 2017 - Perhaps One "DuckBridge" Too Far!

As mentioned in the last post's Comments Section, I am finally in possession of the complete series of DuckTales 2017 on DVD, thanks to my favorite "private label physical media dealer".  

And, as I've done many times in the past when discussing such purchases, I once again emphasize that, if the Vast Many-Tentacled Media Giant Conglomerate that owns, or presently holds the copyright to, the property in question would release AUTHORIZED COMPLETE SERIES SETS of said intellectual property (or properties), on DVD, Blu-ray, or dare-I-dream 4K, I would be first on line (or online, as the case may be) to purchase it!  ... But, since you don't and, apparently have no intention to do so... well, here we are! 

Still slowly wending my way through this long-coveted collection as if it were "The Spear of Selene" itself,  I've since battled in "The Shadow War!", played "The Most Dangerous Game... Night!", and am next primed to see what an animated version of Fethry Duck is like!  

SO, NO SPOILERS ON ANYTHING PAST FETHRY... OKAY?!  

Also, in the previous post and its comments, I've discussed the many differences between the 2017 series, its 1987 predecessor, and the comics by Carl Barks and those who followed in his wake...

...Which brings us to the BACK COVER of the "10-DVD set" that I hope to complete before our country's next civil war... but that's another story - and an off-limits topic at this friendly and humble Blog!  

If you can't read all the descriptive text touting the series, fear not... I shall parse it out for you - and verify the veracity of each hyperbole-an paragraph as we go! ...Hyperbole-an?  Ahh, let's dive in! 

"Scrooge McDuck is back in this reboot of the late-'80s animated series. He gains guardianship of grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie when Donald Duck reluctantly takes them to McDuck Manor, the wonder of which enthralls the mischievous triplets."

CHECK! 

"While living with their trillionaire relative, the boys learn long-held family secrets and unleash symbolic artifacts from Scrooge's past."

CHECK! Except Scrooge as a "trillionaire" seems a bit of a comedown from Barks' proud and boastful self-made "fantasticatillionaire"!  ...Scrooge wouldn't be..., uh, um... "undervaluing his assets" to avoid taxes, would he?  Naww... that's someone else!  (Of course, I mean GLOMGOLD here, no references to any actual person living or dead  is intended - as those disclaimers used to say!)  

"The threesome's antics send the family on a number of adventures, which include Webby Vanderquack, the granddaughter of Scrooge's housekeeper, Mrs. Beakley." 

CHECK-A-ROONEY!  Three-for-three, so far! 

...And finally...

"The show's animation style is inspired by the classic comic designs of animator Carl Barks." 

WAIT... WHAT, NOW?  

"The show's animation style is inspired by the classic comic designs of animator Carl Barks." 

AH-OOO-GAH!  TILT!  REJECT!  YOU ARE FIBBING, FIBBING, FIBBING!  

  (...Or as our title says, "One DuckBridge too far!")  

"The show's animation style is inspired by the classic comic designs of animator Carl Barks." 

TIME FOR SOME SERIOUS FACT-CHECKING HERE! 

"The show's animation style is inspired by the classic comic designs of animator Carl Barks." 

True, Carl Barks *was* a Disney "animator", who worked on Donald Duck theatrical shorts...

...But that was ancient history! Then again, DuckTales is all about... "rewriii-ting hist-treee", isn't it? 

However, the Carl Barks we all know and love became an all-time historic figure by working in the field of COMIC BOOKS!  

Indeed it was THOSE VERY COMIC BOOKS created by Carl Barks that formed the basis for anything bearing the name "DuckTales" - 1987, 2017, and anything in-between or after!  

And, in those fabled comic books, Carl Barks drew his cast of game-changing characters LIKE THIS...

He never drew ANYTHING that looked like THIS...

Aww, but when ya enter the crazy, mixed-up (but now needed more than ever) world of "private labels", ya gotta expect occasional missteps... as long as the discs themselves are of high quality - and these are! 

...Just like the many wonderful works of Carl Barks himself! 

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Sixteen: AT LAST!!!

Staggering winded and achy across the finish line of this sixteen-post marathon, it's time to keep a semi-promise I made earlier in this (gasp!) sixteen-count-series... TOP THREE COVERS, finally  - naming a THIRD cover to join THIS ONE...

...Which shared co-honors with the one below, both by Bugs-master Tom McKimson (... and both counting as a single-occupant of one of those precious three slots - yes, I'm doing TWO-INTO-ONE here, but I was never very good at math)! 

And, of course, THIS magnificent Batman cover by Neal Adams! 

An image so strong, so powerful, so awesome, that you don't even bother to question why Batman remains masked... and "pants-ed" for that matter!  

And, while all of these had great stories backing those covers, they were primarily selected on the sheer brilliance of the covers themselves!   

But for that final slot, I find myself looking beyond strictly images, getting into the story it illustrates and the significance of said story - simultaneously noting that the cover is great in and of itself!  

So, without further ado (and "further a-don't", even) my list of  TOP THREE COVERS - in no particular order - is rounded out by (...pause for effect, while we cue the drumroll)...

DONALD DUCK in LOST IN THE ANDES by the great Carl Barks (originally published in 1949 by Dell Comics, as part of their unparalleled-in-comics-history FOUR COLOR SERIES!) 

...But, NOT the original printing as seen above!  No, the one that means much more to me is its first American reprint in THE BEST OF DONALD DUCK #1 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: 1965)!

While it has a little less detail than the original FOUR COLOR cover, I feel the BLUE background served the illustration far better than the garish orange of the Dell version!  You can take your pick! 

But, as I indicated, it was what this version REPRESENTS that makes it special!  

Walking up the corner street to the nearest soda fountain store that carried comics with my aunt (not the one with the nice house - but the "more fun" one who lived off-and-on with us) on a Friday early evening (knowing there was no school for two whole glorious days) and finding this on the rack!  I was so excited, I didn't even WANT a fountain soda!  I just wanted to get this baby home, and leap into it!  

...And finding it to be (what *still is*) my choice for THE SINGLE GREATEST COMIC BOOK STORY OF ALL TIME!  THIS POST can tell you why, and spare me the additional marathon-depleted-effort!   

And so we name THE BEST OF DONALD DUCK #1 our well-deserved and final (whew!) cover number sixteen! 

Now, if you'll excuse your exhausted and beleaguered host, I'm going to completely self-dissolve in a pail of liquid human-goo!  If any portion of me remains, those parts (once congealed) will be back soon!  

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Fourteen: "OG We There Yet?" Part Two!

Yesterday we highlighted DONALD DUCK # 109 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: September, 1966), and its lead adventure story "Og's Iron Bed"... but hold on to your "iron bedsheets", 'cause we ain't done "OG-in'" yet!  

Let's review a few historical facts about this book, and the day I acquired it...

A bi-monthly Gold Key title, as was DONALD DUCK # 109, with a  SEPTEMBER cover date would have been released in JULY.  Therefore, I would have come across this issue in JULY, 1966. 

And, in July, 1966, I would have been delightfully on summer vacation from THIS STRUCTURE...

...Back when it had REAL doors and windows, and no attending dumpsters!  

In those primitive and barbaric - yet, paradoxically, warmly nostalgic - days, comic readers (...we weren't FANS back then, we were READERS - and stop READING on my lawn, ya pesky young'un) were at the mercy of the newsstand distribution system! 

Okay, maybe not as far back as THAT!  We're talkin' 1966 here!  But what a GREAT picture! 

I can count as many as FIFTEEN comics in that photo that are in my collection... one of which I just got last week!  You can probably guess most of them!  ...And, no... I never wore overalls and a beanie-type hat like that! But, advance it somewhere close to 20 years in time, and that could have been yours truly!  Single-digit-age me even kinda LOOKED like that... such an adorable little tyke!  Whatever could have gone so wrong!   

ASIDE TO SERGIO: That last paragraph is an example of the loopy and improvisational typing I referred to in another set of comments!  I just looked at the photo and began typing away, on the road to who-knows-what!  Didn't know any of that was coming... and only the vaguest idea of what's coming next... if that! 

Where were we?  Oh, yeah... newsstand distribution of comic books!  

Most kids looked forward to Saturdays and Sundays - and I was no exception - but MY favorite days of the week were Tuesdays and Thursdays!  

WHY?  Because on Tuesdays and Thursdays NEW COMICS were put out on the shelves and racks of small stores all across the (still safe, but inching toward eventual danger by 1966) town in which I lived.  Not only in my town were Tuesdays and Thursdays what we now call "an event", but anywhere else in my region that traveling to was possible!  By 1968-1970, I would be traveling by bus to the far corners of my region in search of increasingly elusive comics on almost a weekly basis - and those days (and those trips) began in me an interest in bus transportation that led me to being a local bus transit advocate today!  

From other accounts I've noted, the "Tuesday and Thursday thing" was sort of the standard for the release of new comics. 

It was one such Thursday toward the end of July, 1966 that, for reasons long forgotten, I was spending a nice summer afternoon at a nearby aunt and uncle's house, in a decidedly nicer neighborhood than my own - both then and now!  

Their house had a nice screened-in attached back porch with a large picnic table -- the very definition of comfort vs. the "uncovered brick fortress" we had at the back of our house!  Though I really did have many years of enjoying 1960s comics out on that "uncovered brick fortress".  And, on that Thursday in July, 1966, I would have a particularly memorable day-of-same in the "nice screened-in attached back porch with a large picnic table" at my aunt and uncle's house!

Earlier in the day we'd gone shopping. In their local strip mall center there was a newsstand store. As it was THURSDAY, I made sure to check it out!  ...AND WHAT DO YOU THINK I FOUND?  

Try THIS...

But even more amazing was THIS... 

And out on the SAME DAY, just like my 1965 experience with UNCLE SCROOGE #58 and THE FLINTSTONES #28, as detailed HERE!  

Only I didn't have to rush through them during my "home lunch period" and go back to school!  NOPE, I had the WHOLE AFTERNOON to enjoy these puppies... or perhaps "ducklings"?  

And, enjoy them, I did!  In the LAST POST, I described "Og's Iron Bed" as "one of the best - and most ambitious - Donald Duck stories of the period".  I dove into it first, and it well and truly lived up to my "future-hype"!  Vic Lockman and Tony Strobl's best collaboration, with the possible exception of their consumerism-satire story in THE JETSONS #2 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: April, 1963), discussed somewhere in the depths of THIS POST! 

However, THE BEST OF UNCLE SCROOGE AND DONALD DUCK #1 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: November, 1966) was nothing short of a magnificent gift from the Comic Book Gods!  

As the cover says, it did indeed reprint "Two Famous Disney Classics"...

"Back to the Klondike"... 

 Cover by Carl Barks. 

...And "The Ghost of the Grotto".

 Cover by Carl Buettner. 

Ah, but there was a THIRD "Famous Disney Classic" to be found in the pages of this 25-cent ticket to Comic-Readers'-Nirvana... Carl Barks' famous story of "The Land of Tralla La"!  The "Bottle Cap Corruption" story! 

And, needless to say, it was the first time I saw any of these great Barks stories!  

One funny thing is that Carl Barks' art had evolved so much over the years that, while I could tell that  "Back to the Klondike" and "The Land of Tralla La" were by the same artist, I thought that "The Ghost of the Grotto" was by a different artist entirely!  

...And that "Giant Robot Robbers" and the other "contemporary-to-1966" Uncle Scrooge stories I was then reading were by a THIRD different artist!  

Nevertheless, that was quite an afternoon out on my aunt and uncle's (all together now) "nice screened-in attached back porch with a large picnic table".  One that I recall so vividly to this day!  

Of course, with these two ever-memorable comics, it would have also made for a special day on my family's stark "uncovered brick fortress"!  ...Maybe even in some dingy alley, somewhere!  Yes, they were THAT great!  

Gosh, I hope that was enough "stream-of-consciousness-typing" to satiate Sergio!  :-) 

Finally, what could possibly put a capper on such a perfect day?  ...How 'bout THIS?  

It was a THURSDAY, in 1966, remember?  

That meant that, by the time I was deposited back home, there was a summer rerun (...remember "summer reruns"?) of Part Two of this week's installment of BATMAN to enjoy on top of all that great Duck stuff (...as opposed to "Stuffed Duck") 

 "Stuffed Duck"... That's ANOTHER JOKE, SON! 

Yeah, after a "joke" like that, I'd run away too!  

But, before you do, Dynamic Duo (Aren't you glad I didn't say "Before you DUO"?), stick around for one Bat-moment more as I name  THE BEST OF UNCLE SCROOGE AND DONALD DUCK #1 our Cover Number Fourteen!  

Wheee!  Only TWO MORE TO GO, and then I get my life baaack!!!  ...Haaaa-haaaa-heeeee-heeeee!