Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Kid Colt Outlaw #229, Marvel Comics, April 1979. Artist: Gene Colan. Now that’s more like it, two rough and tumble cowboys smashing through the window of some two-bit saloon that sells watered-down whiskey. Gene Colan gives us one of the…
Four Color #228, Eastern Color, May 1949. Artist: Bill Ely. Bill Ely gives us some fine grace and elegance on the cover of Four Color #228, great perspective too. David Mazzucchelli nails the mood of Purgatory, a great issue from…
Batman #227, DC Comics, December 1970. Artist: Neal Adams. Call it a safe pick if you will but Neal Adams gave us a great cover on Batman #227, of course, it’s an homage but I’ve featured those before. Batman #227…
Comics legends Walter Simonson and Tom Palmer collaborated on a wonderful run of Star Wars comics in the early 1980s, before the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Like all Artist’s Editions, each page has been meticulously scanned from the…
Marvel Tales #226, Marvel Comics, August 1989. Artist: Todd McFarlane. It came down to Batman #226 and Marvel Tales #226, Neal Adams versus Todd McFarlane. The beef I have with both covers is that the secondary characters suck but Spidey…
One-shots are outliers in this wonderful hobby of ours and there are many reasons for their existence. Some are compendiums that gather together a number of features around a given character or theme. Some are ash-cans that are most often…
Amazing Spider-Man #225, Marvel Comics, February 1982. Artist: John Romita Jr. What better way to follow up a John Romita cover than to put up a John Romita Jr. Cover. Amazing Spider-Man #225 is one of those covers that always…
Action Comics #19, DC Comics, December 1939. This week’s Undervalued Spotlight came about because of an argument over Superman #2. A friend of mine, and a comic book nut, was arguing that Superman #2 should be featured on the Spotlight…
Thor #224, Marvel Comics, June 1974. Artist: John Romita. I’m gonna officially come out and say it, Day 224 was the worst day of the year so far for covers. Being the eternal optimist I’ll also add that it will…
As a socio-cultural anthropologist, the issue of representation has been part of my academic trajectory since I was an undergraduate. How issues such as gender and race are depicted in popular culture (and by whom) are topics that have been…
Avengers #223, Marvel Comics, September 1982. Artist: Ed Hannigan. For you guys that follow the Undervalued Spotlight you might have suspected I would pick this. Ed Hannigan’s cover is awesome, Nuff said. Nice to see Andy Warhol do a cover…
Wonder Woman #222, DC Comics, December 2005. Artist: J.G. Jones. Day 222 will be themed, it belongs to the adversaries squaring off covers lead by J.G. Jones’ striking Wonder Woman #212 (1987 series). Marc Silvestri adds to the theme with…
Batman #221, DC Comics, May 1970. Artist: Neal Adams. I thought Batman #221 was the runaway winner today (I should have used that line on a Flash win). This is quality stuff from old Neal. I have a feeling we’ll…
Daredevil #220, Marvel Comics, July 1985. Artist: David Mazzucchelli. I really like David Mazzucchelli’s cover to Daredevil #220. There are two effects he’s going for here with the haziness of the light in the fog and then the fog itself.…
Now with Sundays in color for the first time in more than 75 years. The action never stops as Annie gets shipwrecked with Spike Marlin. Then the Depression and rival businessmen wreck “Daddy” Warbucks’s empire, leaving him broke and ruined.…
X-Factor #219, Marvel Comics, July 2011. Artist: David Yardin. David Yardin delivers a striking cover for X-Factor #219, the composition of the action scene is top notch but his use of light sends this cover to the next level, great…
Strange Adventures #218, DC Comics, June 1969. Artist: Neal Adams. I love the Neal Adams cover to Strange Adventures #218, Adams’ take on 217 fell short with too much shading but the almost psychedelic #218 looks great. Ernie Chan does…
Amazing Spider-Man #129, Marvel Comics, February 1974. I’d like to come right out and introduce Amazing Spider-Man #129 as this week’s Undervalued Spotlight. Amazing Spider-Man #129 famously features the first appearance of the Punisher, the book also features the first…
House of Mystery #217, DC Comics, September 1973. Artist: Bernie Wrightson. Man the cover to House of Mystery #217 is so Wrightson and for me, that’s a good thing. What strikes me about Barry Windsor Smith’s Daredevil #217 cover is…
I was eleven in 1968 when the original Planet of the Apes was released. I didn’t see it in the theatre, so by the time it came out on TV it was probably 1969 maybe even 1970. Everything about that…
Famous Funnies #216, Eastern Color, March 1955. Artist: Frank Frazetta. So I did the old “I’ll tell them I’ll only use 4 but slide in the 5th at the last opportunity”. Apologies but there was no real other option today.…