When it comes to television specials during the traditional holiday season, Thanksgiving gets the short shrift. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, with Boris Karloff’s mellifluous narration; Rankin-Bass’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; and A Charlie
As I mentioned once, a while back, I got into Marvel Comics late in the game. Outside of glancing at an odd issue or two on the coffee table at my barber shop, I didn’t start reading Marvel in earnest until 1965. One of the first things that struck
Sometimes, it’s not so hard to come up with ideas for my column. You guys bring them to me.
Case in point, last’s month’s entry, when Dave Elyea posted:
I’d love to see someone figure out when most of the Superboy stories were set---up until the off
Read more…"At present, we consider Superman to be about 32. Lois Lane and Lana Lang are a year or two younger."
In my last entry, I showed that, during the Silver Age, Superman editor Mort Weisinger established the ages of the Man of Steel and most of his su
Read more…Pencils down!
This is exactly the way I like one of my quizzes to play out. Everyone who took a shot at it did respectably well, either by getting the right answers to most of the list, or by being the first to nail one of the trickier posers. Betw
Read more…It always goes this way. I get an idea for a Silver-Age quiz because a couple of good questions pop into my head.
Now you might be thinking that I like it when that happens because doing a quiz is an easy way to knock out a Deck Log Entry.
Yeah,
Read more…Hey, they can’t all be gems, folks.
In 1938, National Comics (that which would become DC Comics) launched Superman in Action Comics # 1. In a phenomenally short period, he would become an icon of popular culture, not just in America, but around the
Read more…I’m not really an idea man, so when the notion of Lex Luthor taking Superboy to civil court occurred to me, I got excited. While I have my own opinion on it, I tried mightily to be fair in the proceedings. Any comics fan with a law degree, no doubt
“Mr. Aldrich, you may proceed with your closing argument.”
hank you, your honour. Members of the jury, fellow citizens of Smallville, this case isn’t about blame; it’s about responsibility. A police officer takes responsibility for the
Read more…
“Mr. Barton, is the defence ready to proceed?”
“We are, your honour.”
“In that case, before we begin, the court wishes to issue a word of warning to the plaintiff. Young Luthor, in my thirty years on the bench, I’ve seen more than my sha
Read more…
“Owwwww! Let go of me, you flatfoots! That caped creep is lying through his teeth! What kind of kangaroo court is this?”
“I told you to keep a civil tongue in your head, Luthor, and warned you of what would happen if you didn’t. Bali
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, your honour.”
“Good morning, judge.”
“First, as to the matter of the plaintiff’s pre-trial motion requesting that the defendant disclose his civilian identity and make known to the court his foster-parents
Read more…
“Good morning, all. Baliff, are all of the parties present?”
“They are, your honour.”
“Very well. Mr. Aldrich, your client may re-take the stand.”
“Yes, your honour.”
“I remind the witness that he is still under oath. You may begin y
Read more…When you think of Thanksgiving, you think of turkey, of course. And the Macy’s parade. And football. But Thanksgiving is not associated with gift giving. Not usually, anyway. This, however, will be a story of a most remarkable Thanksgiving gift.
“Your honour, before the plaintiff is excused, I’d like to re-direct.”
“Go ahead, Mr. Aldrich.”
“Thank you, sir. Now, Lex, it was your testimony that the detailed notes you took, the ones which contained the formula with which you creat
Read more…If veteran comics pro Jim Shooter had been run over by a bus on his eighteenth birthday, he still would have been a significant figure in the industry, at least to most comic-book readers of the Silver Age. Particularly, to the fans of DC’s Superman
For youngsters all over the world, Christmas is a day of pure joy and excitement.
Except for that sub-set of children whose birthdays also fall on December twenty-fifth. They can’t help feeling a little short-changed.
Oh, their parents try to make u
Read more…By 1962, Joe Oriolo had two famous cartoon characters on his résumé. Twenty-three years earlier, while moonlighting from his day job as an animator for Fleischer Studios, Oriolo and author Seymour Reit created Casper, the Friendly Ghost for a childr
I was never a fan of Charlton Comics. Like most of the also-ran comics companies of the Silver Age, they always came across as “Brand X”. There was something bland and two-dimensional about Charlton’s output. DC boasted the most polished product o
I won’t be discussing any nuggets of Silver-Age goodness this time around, folks. In fact, there won’t be anything comics related. This one is personal. So I’ll understand if you give it a pass.
The Good Mrs. Benson and I have just returned from
Read more…