As a lot of you may know, I am working on putting together a coffee table-sized book that would feature the main artists of these WECA comics, that is, the Canadian Whites. I’ve got about 10 sections finished and I have submitted a package with the first three sections to Dundurn Publishing in Toronto. I really don’t hold much hope for seeing my cache of fairly arcane information being picked up by a publisher over the next few months, but I will try a couple more (such as Drawn and Quarterly and Fantagraphics). Most likely, my project will only be able to see fruition as a self-published e-book or a book for which a good deal of publishing funding could be raised through an online funding scheme such as Kickstarter.

I remember when DC’s the New 52 were first announced there was a lot of skepticism on this site. That soon changed once people realized how significant the event was, as well, DC appeared to be very committed to this new direction. Our Undervalued Spotlight host, Walter himself was speculating if these new books would become the new “keys” of this current generation. Well, it’s been over two years so I thought I’d check to see how the initial wave of these books are doing in the back issue market.

That was the “Marvel Method”. Where DC worked from full scripts and with a very rigid house style, Marvel was having their artists basically run wild with nothing more than a vague plot. The artist’s job was to pace the story and often Stan Lee, and later on Roy Thomas, would be introduced to strange and wonderful ideas they never thought of but were responsible for dialoguing. Most of the time it worked marvellously( no pun intended!).

Love Diary #36, Charlton Comics, January 1965 This is a bit of a coup for the Undervalued Spotlight. I believe I’ve found a yet undiscovered prototype. I’m not sure you could even call it a prototype, to me it looks more like a rip off and the perpetrators are no other than Stan Lee and Jack...

Joss Whedon had just announced that Ultron would appear as the main villain in the Avengers movie sequel. Like some frantic stock trader with insider information, I swung into action. I desperately phoned a few comic dealers in an effort to snag some copies of Avengers # 55 (the first full appearance of Ultron) for cheap. It took about a day to hear a back from them about the comics, and when they did call me back, the ink had already dried on the new price tags that they had slapped on the polybags. I think one dealer wanted $300 for a very fine copy of #55 so I passed on it.

Here on Comic Book Daily, we’ve talked about stuff. We’ve talked about selling your stuff. We’ve talked about storing your stuff. We’ve talked about displaying your stuff. But there’s one thing we haven’t talked about (at length anyways…), buying your stuff again.

A gathering of wonderful art spotted by yours truly these last few days.

Welcome to Pop Porn, a podcast show about pop culture, comics, media and anything nerdy. Hosted by Leigh Hart and Rachel Richey.

Adapting history always carries with it an element of risk, and that risk is even greater when dealing with a beloved story such as 47 Ronin. The tale of loyal samurai who avenge their master’s death has been adapted countless times in books, movies, plays, and even opera. So while there is quite a bit of source material to draw from, anyone who is interested in reading the story potentially knows it well. To make an adaptation such as this work there needs to be a great deal of care and respect for the story, and I’m happy to say that every page of 47 Ronin is filled with both.

This is a battle where I was definitely going to lose something (mmm…). My love of comic reading and Spider-Man vs. the raging hormones of a 15 year old me about to enter high school with all those girls. There was not enough time for both and the girls were winning. Reading comics was starting to feel a bit juvenile and my interest in them was beginning to wane. It didn’t help that my favourite title Spider-Man had been going through weak or flat spot (for me any way) in its run (issues #83-99) for a while with a couple of exceptions. Even the 2nd return of the Green Goblin, the drug issues (#96-98) hadn’t lifted me out of the doldrums as those books felt like drug story sermons to me back then. I was however holding out for a special issue #100, and that is where our Arcs and Runs tale begins today.

This week Comic Culture hosts Chris Owen and Walter Durajlija talk the talk on all things comic book related – and some things not. As always they are joined by producer Shekky Feldstein! We’ve even added some tunes! So please, sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s Comic Culture....

“Thunderfist,” what a great name for a superhero. E. T. Leagault came up with this early in 1942 after having being the sole writer and artist for Cy Bell and his one title at that time, Wow Comics which featured two other Legault creations, Dart Daring and Whiz Wallace. The first issue of Wow Comics was cover dated September, 1941 and came out on the stands after half-dozen issues of Better Comics and a couple of issues of Lucky Comics issued by Maple Leaf Publications out of Vancouver had already been in the hands of lucky kids across the country.

It’s time for another update from BIFF SOCKO, TWO-FISTED NEWSHOUND. Biff Socko covers Comic Book News like zits on the A-V Club. Faster than Perry White! Stronger than J. Jonah Jameson! Hotter than Cat Grant. He is…BIFF SOCKO!

One of the most interesting things about walking away from this great hobby of ours, which is what I did between 1992 and 2002, is finding out what you missed when you return. Both positive and negative.

Avengers #223, Marvel Comics, September 1982 I was pricing up a stack of Avengers recently and like always I basically stopped at issue #200. Anything over #201 in the Avengers run has always gone straight to the bargain bins. Now I’ve been around long enough that I knew to pull #214 (Ghost...

With the release of Thor: The Dark World, Marvel introduced to us their new ident. Without getting too deep, an ident is basically an animated logo that, as the name suggests, help to identify a product, service or the company itself.

Did you catch Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe on TV last week? In case you missed it, let me recap very quickly. It was essentially a State-of-the-Union address from Marvel Studios, explaining how the Marvel Cinematic Universe came to be, how we got to today, and where it is going into the future. All 3 waves of Marvel films were summarized, as well as the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show and the Marvel One-Shots (the special features on the Marvel Blu-Rays).

It was exceptional television. Except for one thing…

A gathering of wonderful art spotted by yours truly these last few days.

Pie. Oh ya, that is right, this interview starts with pie. I sat down with Marcus To at Wanda’s Pie in the Sky in Kensington Market. After picking out our favourite slices, we sat down and chewed on some pie and talked about Marcus’ career.

A new ongoing collection of Frank King’s Gasoline Alley colour Sundays, collecting the first two years of Walt and Skeezix in an excellent introductory volume.

It’s that time of year again when Canadian golden age creators are considered for inclusion in the Joe Shuster Awards Canadian Comic Book Hall of Fame. Certainly an august constellation of creators but who are the two additions that should be inducted this year?

All that talk last week in Undervalued Spotlight about Amazing Spider-Man #37 and the importance of how it fits into the history of Spider-Man got me thinking and asking the question. Why isn’t the Spectacular Spider-Man #2 magazine more in demand.

Journey into Mystery #85, Marvel Comics, October 1962. Last Saturday evening my kid decides we should all watch Thor 2; I wanted to watch the Habs/Senators game. So Thor 2 starts and I kind of like it, I actually thought it was better than the first one. Near the end of the movie my kid mumbles something like “I really like Loki, he’s smart and crafty”. Woah!