Whatcha reading? Part 2!

The comic book distribution shutdown is over, and comics are slowly making their way back to stores on Wednesdays once again. Things have changed, though - DC has left Diamond completely and will ship Tuesday-arriving books independently; Marvel is only shipping new comics every other week; both Marvel and DC are skipping their comic shipments for a week in late June; many small publishers won't be shipping any books at all until at least August. These are unprecedented times in the comic book industry.

About a month ago, I made a post about some of the books I have been working my way through since I've now actually got time to read them. With the slow trickle of books that have come out since things started up again, I find that I'm still working my way through my big stack of unread books. And since I had fun making that first post, I thought I'd make at least one more and show you just what I've been keeping busy with while I am making progress with my "to read" stack.

Even though comic store distribution came to a halt throughout most of April and May, the Walmart DC Giants have shipped on schedule. I usually get these three titles through my local comic shop, but it seems that the direct market versions of Swamp Thing and the Flash might be cancelled? When I read this, I drove out to Walmart and grabbed the mass market versions of all three...just in case. The novelty of this line has yet to wear off for me.

Next up on the list are two back issues, Thor #200 and Weird War Tales #93, with the first appearance of the Creature Commandos. They were both interesting Bronze Age books!

I grew up reading the Death of Superman storyline, but I never picked up more than a few issues of Batman's Knightfall saga. These issues aren't too expensive to find, but with Knightquest and Knightsend added on, there are a lot of issues out there. I still need to find just a few Knightquest issues, but I have finally made it through the big Knightfall story, culminating with Batman #500. The issues got pretty repetitive after a while, but I enjoyed it - though I'm sure I would've been mad about DC replacing Batman at the time.

Right around the time of Heroes Reborn, JM Dematteis had a fairly long run on the Silver Surfer title in which ol' Norrin Radd has adventures with (and space-dates, I guess) Alicia Masters. I managed to get all of those issues a while back but only recently got a chance to read them. There were some real moments of brilliance in this run! Plus the Thing showed up in a few issues, which is always a plus!

Next up on my list are two issues of Marvel's Shogun Warriors book, both guest-starring the Fantastic Four. I do not have high hopes for these! But I had to get 'em anyway.

If you're looking for some digital comics to read, why not try out Bad Karma from Panel Syndicate? Art on this new title is by Black Terror artist Ryan Howe!

Lastly, I found this RoboCop vs. Terminator series for a good price and picked it up few weeks ago. Firstly, the concept looks like a no-brainer, and secondly, it's by Frank Miller and Walt Simonson! Let me tell you - it did not disappoint. These two comic book creative giants are at their prime in this four-issue series from Dark Horse. I'm not even necessarily a really big fan of either franchise, yet I loved every page of this gem.

Plus each issue came with a cardboard centerfold cutout! Yeah!!

If you have a chance to pick up this series or the subsequent collection, do it! It's well worth it.

That's it for now. I hope that everyone is well and has enough comics to get them through these tough times. 

1997's Tick statue from Legends in Three Dimensions

There's a lot of Tick merchandise floating out there (well, not literally floating), most of which revolves (not literally revolving) around the mid-'90s cartoon, when they slapped (not literally slapped) the Tick logo on everything from action figures to buttons to spoons to Pogs to Halloween costumes to shampoo.  There are only a few Tick-related items that I would classify as more high end, and if were keeping score, the two statues made of the character are probably at the top of the list.  Earlier this year, I purchased and reviewed the very lovely (and fairly expensive) Tick statue from Sideshow Collectibles, a limited release from 2009.  The other statue, while not as limited or expensive - and technically a bust and not a statue - was made in 1997 from a company called "Legends in Three Dimensions".  Because it's been over 15 years since it was released, this item is relatively hard to find, and in fact I've only seen it in private collections once or twice before.  When I saw one show up on eBay, I placed a bid and won a great item, and so my collection of two is complete.  Even though it was made in the early years of superhero statues, it's a nice collectible and a testament to how popular the Tick as a character is and was.

Once the package showed up in the mail, I opened it up and took some pictures to share.  Let's take a look at this merchandise!

The box that the statue comes in is pretty '90s-tacular, with some gaudy colors and some clunky branding.  But it's got some character to it and, most importantly, it showed up in pretty good shape for its age and the fact that it was shipped across the country at least once.  The front of the box is, appropriately, an image of the item itself.  One thing to note is the logo used on the box, specifically the "THE" written above the name.  This uses the cartoon logo as opposed to the logo on the book, which is slightly different just for layout purposes.

The sides of the box feature artwork inspired by the Tick cartoon and comic, both painted by the bust's sculptor, Greg Aronowitz.  A quick Google search reveals that Aronowitz is best known as a production designer and makeup artist on a number of movies and shows, including Batman & Robin, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, the X-Files and Terminator 2.  Whether or not Aronowitz is a fan of the Tick or if this project was simply another job to him I don't know, but the artwork was an interesting addition to be sure.

Aronowitz has a website here: http://barnyardfx.blogspot.com/

This image, for example, is right from the comic, where the previous image was more inspired by the cartoon.  There's a lot of Edlund in this image, and in fact it might be panel specific if I'm not mistaken.

One concern that every Tick statue owner has is about the antennae - they're central to the character's design but are obviously the most fragile parts of something like this.  Thankfully, the antennae on this statue has help up nicely over the years.  I will, of course, still worry about it for the rest of my life.

The statue itself is really nice looking.  It's got a lot of features that are indicative of the cartoon, most notably the enlarged teeth.  The yellow and blue work nicely in tandem.

Oh, and the box I've got this sitting on is labeled "various", for...various reasons.

I'm happy to add this piece to the collection.  It's obviously got a special place in it.  I long for the day when the character reaches new heights in popularity and we can justify making an Arthur statue.  That'd be something.

Happy Halloween, 2013!

Ah, Halloween, a time when people all over can come together and dress like gorillas poorly dressed as people.  It's a special time for all.

I took a few hours on Thursday to toss on my gorilla suit and head out with fellow Franks and Beans star Larry.  I thought it'd be funny to dress as a gorilla trying desperately to fool people that he was actually a human.  I don't think anyone got the joke, but whatever.  Larry spent a little more time on his costume and went as the Terminator.

Larry spent the entire night reciting lines from "Kindergarden Cop", which I thought was a really nice touch, though I eventually got tired of hearing about strangers' fathers and their employment.

As usual, though, my nephews end up being so damn cute that it makes me wonder why I try at all.  They even helped me out by pulling up the comic book quotient for this blog.  Thanks, guys!

This looks like he's going to fly off, leaving shattered pavement behind.  Perhaps he will.

Happy Halloween!  Let's eat some candy.