TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Three (x3)!

Everyone has their thoughts on, and their predictions for, THE FUTURE... but how many of them have ever turned out right?  I don't mean "right" in any sort of "general sense", but REALLY, ABSOLUTELY, BANG-ON, GOT-IT-IN-ONE CORRECT?   

...No, can't say that mine have either! 

I never imagined I'd someday be in a situation like my present one.  Rather, I thought that "everybody's-go-to-future-that-never-happened-example", FLYING CARS, was more likely to happen by now!     

...And, on the remote possibility that they DID, mine would most likely be out of Deutronium Hyper-Neucleonic Blend Rocket Engine Fuel!  

...I'd probably look more like the "Charlton Version of Myself", than the "Gold Key Version", as well! 

Nevertheless, predict we do, and we'll do a hypothetical exercise in "future possibilities"...

 ...Yes, "future possibilities"... phrased thusly because, in light of recent developments, and with good reason, we've become somewhat hesitant to use the phrase "What If" around here for a while!  

Indeed, if left unchecked, "What If" shows every indication of becoming the next "Legendary Super-Pickax"...

...And we wouldn't want THAT to happen, would we?  (But, I digress... "legendarily", of course!)

We present a hypothetical exercise in "future possibilities" relating to the 16th birthday/anniversary of TIAHBlog (...do Blogs even have "birthdays", "anniversaries", or some other unit of commemorative measure?)

THIABlog came into being on THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008... just one day after Wednesday, August 14, 2008 - that is to say "New Comics Day - Wednesday"!

Now, I'll never be able to recreate exactly which comics I bought on that day, but it's a good bet that there would be something from GEMSTONE...

...Something from DC...

And probably some favorite licensed property put out by a small publisher, like JUDGE DREDD or LOST IN SPACE...

BUT, I asked myself because nobody else would, which NEW COMICS would you get on NEW COMICS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2024 (the 16th "DATE" Anniversary of TIAHBlog)?  

...Ya know I didn't really ask myself that back then, but go with the bit, okay?  

Well, to tie back to my opening paragraphs, I would have gotten THAT prediction wrong, too!  

No Gemstone, or any other regularly-published standard-sized Disney comics that would catch my interest yet!  

Little or no DC because, other than their SCOOBY-DOO titles, they seem to have driven me, and my interests, away. 

...But what did I say about "some favorite licensed property put out by a small publisher"?  Well set off the sparklers and drop the confetti because I GOT ONE RIGHT!  

But not exactly that REALLY, ABSOLUTELY, BANG-ON, GOT-IT-IN-ONE type of "right", because I had no idea which "favorite licensed properties" there might be, or which "small publishers" would furnish them.  

Finally, HERE, after all that 16th Anniversary and predictions blather, are our Covers for installment  Number Three - times 3.  Everything else above doesn't count toward the "Anniversary Cover Total" (Sorry, Yogi!), but you get a Three-for-One bonus for August 16, 2024!  Not bad, eh? 

DICK TRACY #4 from  "Mad Cave Studios":

JONNY QUEST #1 from "Dynamite Entertainment":

And, just in time for the Presidential Election Season, RICK AND MORTY FINALS WEEK: CONTESTED CONVENTION #1 from "Oni Press":

All of these "favorite licensed properties from these small publishers" are giving me the Joy-of-Reading that the bigger fish have moved too far away from!  I will be indexing all three at GCD soon!  Stop by and check them out!  

So, with Three-For-One Friday completed, let's see where we go next for installment Number Four!  

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Two!

Cover Number Two of our Sweet Sixteen is a favorite of mine because there aren't all that many like it... even though there really should be! 

On the subject of "should be's", SUPERMAN should be an very inspiring character... and he most often is, but you might not draw that impression from his COVERS!  

Sure, the covers for any adventure character should depict peril - as most of them do...

...Some offer a bit of oddball fun...

...While others throw in a touch of horror...

But, in my humble opinion, there are far to few that present the (for lack of a better word) "majesty" of Superman!  Offering his special type of grandeur as an inspiration for others!  

I've long viewed the cover of ACTION COMICS #425 (DC Comics, Cover Date: July, 1973) as a perfect crystallization of this idea. 

If NORMAN ROCKWELL ever did a cover illustration for Superman, this is what it would be like! 

Performing the "Rockwellian" duties is Nick Cardy, one of DC's best artists of the Silver Age and the transition period that immediately followed. 

And, "inspired all the way", we leave you with Cover #2 of our Sweet Sixteen.  As for what's next, I have no idea... it'll have to come to me (and you) tomorrow!  

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents (Not 16 Candles, but) 16 Covers!

We've all had individual and specific life-changing days!  Days which, for better or bitter, we will always remember!  I, personally, have had many... on BOTH sides of the "Good vs. Bad" ledger! Far too many to bog (...or BLOG) you down with here, even if I *were* inclined to do so.  

But Thursday, August 14, 2008 was one I thought little or nothing about... until some time well after when, as we often do with such days, come to later realize their import.  

It was a day when Esther was away for work and I had nothing to do... yes, REALLY!  This guy who did not *create* the phrase (all together now) "HORRIFICALLY BUSY",  but has since assumed virtual ownership of it - especially when preceded by a parenthetical "(all together now)" - really had nothing to do!  

New DVD day was Tuesday.  New comic book day was Wednesday.  And I wouldn't have a "Thursday Night Film Group" until 2012... so what was I to do?  

Well, to quote the great Doctor Zachary Smith of LOST IN SPACE: 

"Boredom, like necessity, is very often the mother of invention!" 

There were a LOT of Blogs around back then, many of which I admired and visited regularly. (Today, alas, not so much!)  And, while I might not have *actually been* a "writer" at that point, at least I fancied myself as one - what with over 300 comic book Letters of Comment, and regular appearances in Fanzines and APAs since 1994 under the title "THE ISSUE AT HAND" (affectionally shortened to "TIAH")!  

Then, I was struck by one of those "Chocolate and Peanut Butter" moments and thought I like BLOGS, and I like writing TIAH... so why not combine them into TIAHBlog?  

The rest has been 16 years of history (with much FUN) and counting!  

A constant in my life ever since - and one which, I'll readily admit, I let lapse a bit more often than I'd care to - but, unlike all the other things I've written for, both amateur and professionally, this is the ONE THING that's MINE and no one can take it from me... Okay, okay... Maybe Google, but you know... 

So, HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN to TIAHBlog!  

But, instead of the song-standard SIXTEEN CANDLES, we will celebrate with SIXTEEN COVERS!

One each day for the NEXT SIXTEEN DAYS!  Can I manage that?  Well, stop by each day for the next SIXTEEN and see if I can live up to that ambition!  

They will be SIXTEEN COVERS that I like for one reason or another - or maybe it's just the 16th issue of something!  The beauty of it is that even I won't know until I post it!   

But, to kick things off, we shall begin with one that was (and remains) a long-standing joke between David Gerstein and myself... FELIX THE CAT #2 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: April-May, 1948), which I jokingly dubbed "SIX-SCREAM CANDLES", despite the incontrovertible fact that there is only ONE CANDLE present!

You can read the HOW and WHY at THIS POST!  

And, as a bonus - not to be counted among our own "SWEET SIXTEEN COVERS" - is the cover of  POPULAR COMICS #139 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: September, 1947) and dubbed in the linked post as "VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF DECEASED"...

...A gag on a particular favorite classic TV show of mine...

So, one down and 15 more to go... Come back tomorrow to see where we go from here!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Strange Bird Lore!

From the pages of HAWKMAN #1 (DC Comics, Cover Date: April-May, 1964)...

...with a cover by Murphy Anderson that I always loved, BTW, comes the "not-so-strange" (because it's in HAWKMAN) editorial feature "Strange Bird Lore"!

[Click to Enlarge]    

While each example of Strange Bird Lore is interesting to one degree or another, I call your attention to the final one featuring a CROW!  

"It is fancied that when a lone traveler spies a single CROW flying overhead, his journey will end in misfortune..."

Yes indeed! ...Especially if you're in a CONVERTABLE with the TOP DOWN! 

And, need I mention that the... um,  crow of convertible coverage  is not the only crow appearing in DC Comics of the time that has been known to cause... misfortune!

 Above: Foxie weighs the CROWS and cons! 

Life is Like a Hurricane... And Full of SURPRISES, Too!

I don't know if I'm the first to break this, but it'll be common knowledge soon enough...

But, to anyone who dared brave the expected torrent of (all together now) "Marvel Specificity" and picked up WHAT IF...? DONALD DUCK BECAME WOLVERINE (Marvel Comics, Released July 31, 2024)...

 ...And cracked the cover (NO, not THAT kind of CRACK!), they would see (GASP!)... THIS!  

 Yes, it's a FANTAGRAPHICS AD for THEIR DISNEY HARDCOVER BOOKS!  

Don't know the details - and don't care! Let's just call it a welcome sight, and hope it's a sign of future synergy to come!   

...And hey, that is ONE AMAZING BOOK pictured in the ad above, and also below.  It's even got the fabled Marco Rota Donald Duck biographical story... which I've wanted to see in English since discovering it in 1984!  

Not only did I get to SEE it, but I also got to WRITE THE DIALOGUE for it!  

...Sometimes, dreams DO come true!  

We're still in the thick of taking comments for the previous post on Huckleberry Hound, so look for more on that subject later!  But, now I really had to have this "Fantagraphics Ad Thing", jump the line a tad! ...Your comments are welcome on BOTH posts! 

Huck probably wishes that someone "jumped the line" ahead of HIM, in THIS CASE!

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: "Punch" and... "Judy"?

Here's another interesting little "Charlton Oddity", from HANNA-BARBERA PARADE # 6 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: April, 1972)...

Poor Huckleberry Hound (...apparently on a carnival date with a HUMAN female) is (pardon the expression) "roped" into one of those "boxing challenges" that occurred so often in the comedy/entertainment media of the early to mid 20th Century, and that hopefully no longer exist in real life!   (Click to Enlarge!) 

A well placed banana peel (see the third panel above) allows Huck to emerge victorious, but get a good look at the conquering hero's gal...

...And darned if it doesn't look like some 20th Century ancestor of JUDY JETSON!  

Golly, I wonder what happened to his old "Darling Clementine"?  

Oh, and before we go, also note the not-so-valiant-attempt at recreating the "GOLD KEY STYLE - THE END LOGO" in the lower right corner!  

On some level, I suppose even CHARLTON knew that Gold Key had produced the best Hanna-Barbera comic books!  

THE END!