Comic-Con shirts from Wagon Wheel Comics!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (does that metaphor still work?), preparing for Comic-Con is not for the weak of heart.  I've still got lots to do, but I'm starting to whittle down (does that metaphor still work??) the projects I've got to complete for the show that starts on July 11th.

I'm happy to say that one such project that is nearing completion is the long-planned t-shirt barrage.  I always thought that it would be fun to make up some shirts, and comic conventions seem to be the place to have them on hand.  The images you see on this post will soon adorn shirts (ready to buy, even!) at Comic-Con this year, thanks to the folks at Commonwealth Press in Pittsburgh.

The first image has been seen before - it's a Yeti-in-the-style-of-the-Thing shirt with art by Duane Redhead!  It's looking great, I think.

Next up we have an image by Leonardo Pietro!  It's...a fish.  But is it just a fish?  Oh no.  I considered for quite a while putting text on this shirt that gives the wordplay joke away...but in the end, I left it as just an image.  Who gets it?  Anyone?  I hope it's not too obtuse.  I hope that I don't have to explain it to everyone who looks at it at Comic-Con.  Any guesses?

Our next shirt is a little bit crude...but I couldn't resist it.  This was the first idea for a shirt that I ever had, and to see it on a shirt will be pretty fulfilling, even if I don't know that I would ever actually wear a shirt that is a play on words referring to, well, boobs.  But you, brave and ironic reader, you just might.

This design was made by Lisa and Vincent over at TeeMinus24.  They're local creators who make lots of shirts themselves!  Check out their site at http://teeminus24.com/.

Our last image isn't on a shirt mockup just yet, and that's because I don't have the blank shirts in for this one.  I'll be pushing it in trying to get this on a shirt for Comic-Con, but I think that I'll have just enough time!  I sure hope so, because this is a really spectacular image drawn by Adrian "Bago" Gonzalez (artist on the "Accordion Theory" comic strip).  So yes, I will have two Teddy and the Yeti-themed shirts for Comic-Con.  Gotta support the brand!  You may be wondering why the Yeti gets all the love and Ted doesn't have a shirt for himself.  The answer to that question is simply that I don't have any good ideas for a Ted shirt just yet.  We'll see.

All of the shirts for these are coming from Next Level Apparel, a California-based supplier.  Everyone I've dealt with from Next Level has been extremely helpful and easy to deal with.  Their shirts are top-notch, too!  They're all really soft and of good quality.  Once I get the finished shirts in (the first wave should be in next week, hopefully), I'll take pictures and post them up.  If you're at Comic-Con, check out the Wagon Wheel Comics booth in the small press section, row Q, table 11!  We'll have lots of things on display, now including shirts!

I'll see you, Comics Code Authority...IN HELL!

A few days ago, DC Comics announced that they were dropping the Comics Code label from their books in exchange for their own, in-house ratings system.  Archie, otherwise known as "the publisher least likely to ever need anything resembling an oversight committee", followed suit immediately after.  What this means is that after decades of obsolescence, the Comics Code Authority is officially dead.  It also means that Frederic Wertham's "mark of the beast", as it were, has breathed its last after a remarkable run of nearly 60 years, long outliving Wertham and everyone else who gave a crap about the purpose for the Comics Code in the first place.  Marvel Comics dropped the Code from its books nearly 10 years ago.

As I mentioned, this news really means very little regarding the content of new comics.  I've often wondered if, for the last 20 years or so, the Comics Code Authority consisted of one guy at a desk who would flip though all the major monthly comics, check out all the scenes of people getting their heads blown open, make sure that there aren't any pictures of boobs, and hit the "accept" button on...some contraption that consisted mostly of an "accept" button.

The CCA was developed, of course, in response to Wertham's witch hunt that blamed comics for all of society's ills, and looking back at some of the "rules" under the governing influence of the CCA, it's easy to see how worthless it's been for quite some time now.  For example, the Comics Code, as it was designed in 1954, policed comic books to make sure that:

- good would triumph over evil "in every instance"
- scenes dealing with "walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism and werewolfism" were prohibited.  And here I had this great story dealing with ghouls...
- crimes would never be presented in a way in which one might feel sympathy for the criminal or in which evil would be presented "alluringly"
- no comic would use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title
- women would be drawn realistically, "without exaggeration"

So I think we can fairly obviously see that the CCA has been a beacon of light and none of the above points on the list were ever seen in comic books for the last 56 years.

Seriously, though, even if the damage has already been done to the industry, it's nice to get Wertham's stink off of comics in at least one more, highly visible, way.

Boob problem? Crime does not pay, ladies.

I picked up Crime Does Not Pay #112 a few weeks ago - Fanboy Comics in Wilmington, NC had a stash of golden age comics and I leafed through a few of them only to find this gem.  I've always wanted to own a cheesy Frederic Wertham-era crime comic, and at five bucks, this one was worth it.  I believe it was published in 1952, which makes this comic the oldest one I own - as much as I'd enjoy a copy of Action Comics from the second World War (maybe that one with Superman riding a huge bomb), that's probably never going to happen - and inside and out, it really shows its age.

The stories inside the creased and brittle cover are fairly mundane, with tales of crooks getting their comeuppance and learning a lesson along the way (perhaps they should have read the title of the book before engaging in criminal activity), but that's not what stood out to me.  Yes, I've talked about my unusual affinity for old comic book advertisements before, but this one's a real doozy.  I scanned it and will post it below:

I'm baffled by this.  First by the fact that the publishers of this book would think to advertise to grown women, but more so by what's being advertised.  It's a girdle, basically, one that showcases its ability to make boobs look smaller.  Really?  Something that makes women look more flat chested?  Was there something particularly Communist about large breasts in the 1950s?  Was Joseph McCarthy holding hearings about the dangers of boobs?  Because I can't figure this out otherwise.  I mean, I realize that this ad is almost 60 years old at this point, but I refuse to believe that men in the 1950s didn't find breasts attractive to the point where one would remark "say, honey, why not hiding those girls away so I can't see them tonight? I just can't bear to look at them right now."  Preposterous!

I am curious about the "free 10-day trial", though.

guest appearance

Take a peek at the cover posted above.  I'm willing to guess that the hidden Teddy and the Yeti covers aren't the first things people are going to notice.  Or the second, etc., but since this is a Teddy and the Yeti-centric blog, it's my duty to point them out to readers and general passers-by.

This image was just passed on to me by my good friend Todd at New Dimension Comics.  The folks at NDC are working with the creators of Hack/Slash, the Devil's Due horror/monster title that recently made the switch to Image Comics, to put out this exclusive cover.  If I'm not mistaken, this will be a special cover to the first issue of the miniseries Hack/Slash: My First Maniac, which will be the first issue that Image is releasing.

To say that I'm thrilled is an understatement.  Obviously, the image of the NDC version of Teddy and the Yeti #1, with cover art by Alan Gallo and Karin Rindevall, is a minor aspect of the cover that I'm sure most people will skim right over (because, hey, there are sexy girls on the cover, and one of 'em has a knife), but seeing my work in this regard, on the cover of an Image book that has a movie in some form of production, is really fun to see.  Beyond this, I can now make the claim that the Teddy and the Yeti comic book exists in the Hack/Slash universe along with Invincible (#46, bottom left, next to the pizza box).  Perhaps we'll have a crossover or something.

I'll keep an eye on the release date for the book and update this blog when it shows up in stores.  And if you STILL can't pick out Teddy and the Yeti on the above cover, I've cropped the images out for you.  Now that's service!

What is that, a bent corner?  Man, you gotta be more careful with those things.

Et Tu, Ultimate Vision?

As I've mentioned more times than necessary now, there was a big 'ol comic book sale at the local comic shop here in Wilmington recently.  Boxes upon boxes had books priced at 25 cents each, so needless to say I bought more than a few that I otherwise wouldn't, with some good surprises in the mix.

I had picked up some of the Ultimate Galactus books when they were released - Ultimate Extinction and Ultimate Nightmare, I think they were called - but I never did pick up the sequel series, Ultimate Vision.  When I saw all five books (plus the zero issue) in a row, I snagged 'em without hesitation.

I will say that the story is, overall, worth the time to read it.  It's a satisfying continuation of the story, though there are a few annoying inconsistencies throughout.  Even so, it's a good book.

But, all right.  The question you're asking once you've seen the picture posted at top is, "why does the Ultimate Vision have giant robot boobs?"  And you are right to question this.  I mean, I understand that the main audience for comic books is male, and I, like many other men, like boobs and women in general.  But there has to be a line drawn somewhere, and I think that this is it.

The main character of the book is A ROBOT.  Yes, I get that this robot has been given a fairly human figure.  And seeing as that figure is feminine, it makes sense that it might have some semblance of robot breasts, functional or not.  But why the double Ds?  Not only does this robot have robot boobs, but they are too big to possibly fit into any sort of robot bra contraption.

I wish they had some purpose other than to get people to buy the book.  I wish little propellors came out of them and gave the Ultimate Vision the power to fly or something.  Anything better than a robot pinup.  That's just weird.