Monday, September 26, 2011

The Fall

     I was looking out the window yesterday and saw some falling leaves and was reminded that it was the fall season.  But connecting the term to my favorite hobby, I thought, "what about the fall of heroes?"

     Well, I've seen some of my favorite heroes hit rock bottom.  In Spiderman #3, way back in the 1960's, Peter Parker was about to quit until he realised that he could rebound.  One of my favorite Fantastic Four issues was entitled, "The Dismal Dreggs of Defeat."  But you know what?  Most heroes manage to win the day after they put on their capes and slip into their costumes and use their powers to win the day.

     Too bad we "real folk" don't have costumes to slip into (actually we do, they're called our "work clothes") or masks to hide behind since we don't have secret identities to hide behind, we have to face life the way we look all of the time.  And that's the trouble, when things bother us there's no rebounding in the next month's issue we call, "Our Life."

     No, we're left with but one thing to do.  Look into the mirror and face that reflection of ourselves and put up a steely gaze towards that familiar image and make a promise to the mirror to do what it takes to get through life: overtime, an extra job, sacrificing extras, whatever it takes to help our children, our spouses, our friends...ourselves.   That way we can sleep at night, we can hold our own heads up high with honor, knowing that we did all we could to get through life, to stay as far away from "the fall" as possible,

     And in the end, if we do all of these things, we can keep comic books as a great hobby and fun entertainment because we would keep those brightly colored characters on the printed page and become our own real heroes.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

I Love Comic Strips Too

     Yes, according to the title of today's blog, I'm just about as crazy for comic strips as comic books.  And it's in that capacity that I want to share one of my favorite comic strips of all time.  It also just happens to be a strip from "Ziggy," created by Clevelander Tom Wilson, who recently passed away, jogging my thoughts about this strip.

     The strip (from at least a quarter century ago) showed Ziggy looking out the window stating, "The parade of life has passed me by...funny though, I never heard any music."

     That strip sums it up for me.  You go through life from point "A" to point "B" without ever realising that you've aged, you've changed and the world is entirely different from when you started the journey.  Fame, riches and love may have all slipped through your fingers...or not in your journey through life, but here's hoping that all of you reading this gets to hear at least a little music along your personal "Parade" we call "Life."

     Take care and adopt a comic (as well as comic strip) today.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Finally, An Ad!

     Well what do ya know, I saw my first ad for a comic book on television.  It's bad enough that there's nary an ad for regular books and best sellers on the tube, but I've never seen one for my favorite hobby until now.

     I would sat "It's about time," but I think that the very thing that has kept comics among the "disposible income" category up to now has kept advertisors away.  That is that there's not enough profit margin.  But now that most regular comics are three to four dollars each, well every network outlet should get on board.  I mean if dish soap (and believe me, I hold no grudge against dish soap since I use the product myself all the time) can be advertised on the tube, even to the point of generating programs called "soaps" yet sell for less than a normal comic, then I want to see more ads for those brightly colored pamphlets in print and on my t.v. set. 

     Who knows, Bat ads might rule the airwaves (Airwave by the way was the name of an old crimefighter in Detective Comics in the 1940's) and Spiderman circulars might be distributed in parking lots.  If nothing else, advertise the better selling graphic novels which do have a much higher profit margin for all of those involved.  Something for everyone.

     By the way, the ad I saw was for the New DC 52 #1's.  And so far I'm liking what I see through two and a half weeks.

     Take care and adopt a comic today.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Three Out of Four's Not Bad

     Well I read the first four books of the new DC 52 release this week.  Justice League (which was actually from last week) was hands down great, but I must admit that this first story is looking like a multi-part story just to get the team introduced.

     Action #1, no not the original one which just sold for over a million bucks but volume two, featured Superman early in his career wearing a t-shirt and jeans to go with the cape and I must say I liked it enough that I'll be following this on for awhile even though I'm not the biggest Superman fan.

     No, my cup of tea has always been Batman which is why I was a little dismayed at the gore-fest served up in Detective #1.  Of course I'll have to contine following this title since it is Batman.

     Omac was a pleasant surprise going back to the book's Jack Kirby created roots with plenty of weirdness and odd concepts that Jack put forth 35 years ago.  I hope they keep Giffen and his Kirby-like layouts on the title, it helps keep the "Kirby feel" on this very good book.

     Next week comes some more new re-starts although I'm not sure any more of my orders come in until week three during September.

     Take care, as I sit here very pleased so far with DC's efforts, and adopt a comic today.

     PS: DC's made it very easy to adopt a comic this month, they're all number 1's.