The story of Samson

I thought this was an interesting video as it is the story of Samson told with action figures.

Batman and Cal Ripken Jr.

Here is a team-up that I never heard of till recently. It seems to have been an ad for Big Leauge Chew and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

More Cincinnati Comic Con Photos

Here is what the entryway looked like to the con.

Below are surprise visitors Batman and Supergirl.

More surprise visitors from the Star Wars universe. Since Star War took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I guess they must have time traveled.

Here is the vast wares of my local comic book shop,Comicbook World, on their display board.

Below, helping a customer, is the owner of Comicbook WorldPaul Mullins.

Here is a photo of a guy dressed like Wolverine in one of his early costumes.

For some reason everyone seemed to want to be photographed with this Stormtrooper.

That is all of the photos I took at the con. I had a fun time but didn't stay long. I am not one for going to panels. I tried it before and got bored. So once I have seen everything I start looking to buy books Didn't have much money this year so once I met my favorite artist I left. One photo I wish I took was of a fellow dressed like John Stewart of the Green Lanterns. Easily one of the best costumes I saw that day but I was in line just as he arrived. The line was starting to move and I didn't want to hold it up so I thought I would see him inside and take his picture. I never saw him again. If you are reading this my friend you should have won the costume contest.

My time at the Cincinnati Comic Con

Got back from the comic con not long ago. Here is some of what I saw.
First up are the two books I got autographed by Jim Steranko. I asked if I could take his picture but he said "No but thanks for asking." When he saw the issue below of Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. he said someone else in line had this issue who was ahead of me. He then told me the same story that he told him. This cover was done to be the xover of issue #1. Stan Lee didn't like it and said this is the cover of a comic book. Later when he gave his ok for it to be the cover of issue number 5 Jim reminded Stan that he turned it down as the cover to the first issue. (Here you had to see his body language as he moved his shoulders up and gave a look that showed Stan figured that he was wrong.) The sad part of this is that when I tried to put it back in the bag some tape caught on the book and tore part of the cover off at the foot of the villain. Man that hurt but at least it didn't hurt the autograph.
Below that is a copy of the 1973 issu of FOOM that he had and also signed for me. 1973 also happens to be one of my favorite years in comic book and Marvel history. One thing that I wanted to tell him but forgot was  I once saw a drawing of Nick Fury in Steranko's style. He had the trademark huge gun and that small holster. Fury looks at the reader and says..."Ok Steranko, how do I get it back in the holster?" I thought it was funny and wanted to see if he knew it or remembered it. But like I said I forgot.

NextI met artist Jose Delbo. Mr. Delbo is best known for his art on Transformers and Wonder Woman but he also did work for Dell and Charlton on books like The Monkees and Billy the Kid. Below is Mr. Delbo and below that is a pencil sketch of the Monkees. The third picture is that of an issue of the Monkees that I had for him to sign. A woman, whom I believe was his wife, said that that was an issue that they didn't have. Maybe if I can find an inexpensive copy I can send him one. When he saw the issue his eyes lit up and he said "Hey it's the Monkees." To see him smile and say that was worth everything.

Next to Mr. Delbo was Archie artist Stan Goldberg. Mr. Goldberg is aboe holding the Mad About Millie issue that I asked him to sign. Sometimes I never know what to say when I meet someone who's art that I have admired for years and this was one of those times. I guess it's better to say nothing then to come off as dumb. Below is the issue.

Below is Archie writer and artist Craig Boldman. He had already signed the issue below when I asked to take his picture. He asked if I just wanted him to sit there looking wise and I said sure.

Didn't get a photo of Allen Bellman but he was signing prints for $10. I didn't have any money but he was very nice and signed the art he did in the back of the program book for me.

 There are other photos that I may post later but I had to get one of this gentleman. I think he thought I was crazy to ask for a photo while he was eating lunch but now we know. When the Joker is in Cincinnati he likes to eat LaRosa's pizza.

Heading to the Cincinnati Comic Con

I will be heading to the Cincinnati Comic con in a few minutes. I have some books for  Stan Goldberg, Jose Delbo and Jim Steranko to autograph. Hopefully I will find some afforadable ones at the con for Michael Uslan and Allen Bellman and others to autograph. Hopefully I will meet some there who like this site. Hope to see you there. For more info and to still get online tickets go to http://www.cincinnaticomicexpo.com/.

When the Monkees met Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo

I saw this over at http://jimaparofanclub.blogspot.com/. It seems that a teen mag back in the 60's was doing, at least for 2 issues, comics of the Monkees in their magazine. This was when Dell didn't have the rights to them. The story was by Steve Skeates and art by Jim Aparo. Being a Monkees fan I had to share it with you here. They worked in a lot of their song titles. See how many you can find.

One week to the Cincnnati Comic Convention

In one week I will be attending my first convention in many years. Money is tight so I doubt I will buy much but I can't wait to see many of my favorite artist like Stan Goldberg, Jose Delbo, writer Michale Uslan,Allen Bellman and the guest of honor Jim Steranko. Can't wait to see him. Captain America and Nick Fury never looked better then when he was doing the art. For more info go to http://www.cincinnaticomicexpo.com/.

Action Comics #1 2011

Well this week we saw the release of Action Comics #1. I had my doubts of how this would work with the lawsuit against DC. However, this worked out a little better then I thought it would. Superman seems to have a little bit more of an attitude then he has previously but I hope that changes soon. Unlike those in the Flaspoint mini-series' Lois and Jimmy are still among the living. I thought Lois would be gone because of the lawsuit. But there she was with Jimmy by her side. The one thing that I liked is that while all three are reporters in Metropolis, Clark works for the rival paper. He doesn't work with Jimmy or Lois.
One part that this version of Action #1 have in common is that Superman scares a crook into confession. He tries to let him know that if he wanted to he could drop the man and let him fall to his death. Here they are to compare.

Lex Luthor is in this issue but he is working with the government and General Lane to get Superman. It is an uneasy alliance as the General doesn't like Luthor. I still am not sure what the new Superman's origin is even though I have read Flashpoint. They seem to be sticking with he being part of a government experiment on aliens but he also mentions being raised in Smallville. Time will have to unravel that for me. Also when will he get the uniform that he sports in the new Justice League? Here he is wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I guess that is business casual for superheroes.
By the way if you look at the cover above you will notice another nice touch that I enjoyed. Look at the police cars just below Superman. The #'s of the cars are 19 and 38. 1938 is the year that Superman first appeared in Action Comics. So with this issue I have to give the new Superman a tumbs up for the time being.

The Beatles in Riverdale

A few days ago I did a post on Beatles influenced covers. Well here is one that I missed. The Fab Four are looking like they did in the then current Saturday Morning TV show.

I would say that was John way in the back by himself but to me it looks like they drew George twice.

Books on sale at Lulu.com

Hope you all are having a great Labor Day. I just wanted to tell you that till Sept. 9th Lulu.com has my book Last Train to Murder for sale at 20% off. Above is a preview of the book. You can get it at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/last-train-to-murder-pb/14445916 and just type in SEPTEMBER305 when you check out to get the discount.

Beatle Influenced Comic Book Covers

I've always been interested in comic book covers from the 60's that had the Beatles on them. Sometimes the Beatles were directly involved in the story, sometimes they were just mentioned and sometimes they were just on the cover to get your attention. It was easy to see and use the Beatles on romance and humor comic books but it was interesting to see how the Beatles were used in the superhero comic books. Here are a few of those covers.

Marvel Team-Up Toy

I was looking for some covers to post on yesterday's post when I came across this picture. Never did see this toy at my local K-Mart. Nice to see a two devoted to Marvel Team-Up. Since this site is mostly about team-ups I thought I should show it here. Not certain what Wolverine had to do with it. They probably thought if they added stickers of him that it would help sales.

Jim Shooter talks about Marvel Team-up #74

If you are interested please go to http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/09/animal-house.html to read the behind the scenes going ons for this issue of Marvel Team-Up.

Captain America: the First Avenger on DVD

Well you can finally pre-order the best comic book movie ever made. Captain America:The First Avenger is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Just click on the button below.

Just past over 1000 post

I just noticed that my last post was number 1000. So that makes this #1001. Yea! This is the first post on the way to #2000!

Reprint books may save the industry

The comic book companies have been wondering how to stop their dwindling audience. DC's answer is to reboot their whole line. Marvel's seems to be endless crossover events. They state that the over 70 years of continunity and backstories that once helped the books are now hurting them. Well has anyone thought of reprinting some of those old books to get the new audiences caught up? I forget what the numbers are but I believe it is every 7 years a new generation is born. So to get those younger generations why not do a reprint series to get those people ages 7 ane up. In the early days it really helped Marvel with the issues seen above. Sometimes they even, accidentally I'm sure, fooled them into thinking they were current. I remember being told that someone overheard a conversation between fans of Marvel Tales in the early 90's about a storyline that they thought was current. Of course Marvel Tales was the reprint book for the Amazing Spider-man stories done by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita.
I know reprint books aren't big sellers. They never have been so they don't last as long. Still it could help build your audience. Keep cost down by printing on cheaper paper. Do whatever you can to keep cost down so it will be more affordable to buy that book then the ones with a current story. I know when I was a kid those reprint books helped me sometimes get caught up on what was going on with Marvel and I only had 7 years of continuity to get caught up on.