Superman Christmas Stockings

Here are five different Christmas stockings featuring the Man of Steel that I found at various places:

Batman Christmas Stockings

While I am not doing a month long Christmas Countdown, there are five days until the big day. Here are five various Batman Christmas stockings that I found online at various places:

Thrift Store Finds: Book And Comics

I found a horror book and eight comics at one thrift store this morning. The book was I Am Frankenstein by C. Dean Andersson (Zebra Books, 1996) that I picked up for fifty cents (yellow tags were half price today).

The seven comics that I picked up at the same store for a dollar each include The Computer Masters of Metropolis (a Radio Shack giveaway featuring Superman and Wonder Woman), Flash Gordon #36 (Western/Whitman, 1981), A-Next #2, Iron Man #9, Incredible Hulk #466, Spider-Man, Fire-Star and Iceman (advertising supplement to The Denver Post in 1983), X-Men: Liberators #3 and Disney's Return To Oz (Scholastic, 1985). The Radio Shack giveaway comic has seen better days since the covers are torn at the bottom and are hanging on by one staple. The Flash Gordon and Dallas Post giveaway are in worn condition but the other comics are in fair shape.





At another thrift store, I found a battered copy of Devil Kids #90 featuring Hot Stuff the Little Devil for thirty cents. Not only are the covers worn and stained but three-fourths of the last ad page has been ripped out. Some one must have ordered the Sea-Monkeys. It has been a while since I last read a Harvey comic so I just to pick it up. I used to pick up anything with Hot Stuff and Richie Rich before I hit my teens.

Today was a great day for this comic fan to hit the thrift stores.

The Warlord #9 Preview

Wow, Newsarama has an exclusive five page preview of The Warlord #9 that will be on sale December 3, 2009. Here's the beautiful cover by Mike Grell:

First Peek of Josh Brolin As Jonah Hex

The Movie Blog has the first and better look at Jonah Hex portrayed by Josh Brolin in the upcoming movie:

I am liking it.

Smallville's Doctor Fate and Stargirl

The picture below shows Brent Strait as Doctor Fate and Britt Irvin as Stargirl as they will appear in the Smallville's Absolute Justice movie:

Comics Continuum also has a picture of Michael Shanks as Hawkman battling Justin Hartley as Green Arrow.

Human Target Trailer

Here is the trailer for FOX's Human Target:

The television series will launch on Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 8 pm ET before moving into its regular time slot on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 9 pm ET. Mark Valley stars as Christopher Chance and is based on the DC Comics' character.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am wishing everyone in the United States a happy and safe Thanksgiving this year. The following artwork was used for the cover of JSA #54 done by Carlos Pacheco (pencils; signed), Jesus Merino (inks; signed) and J.D.Mettler (colors). I did add the text.

Thrift Store Find: McDonald's Lightning Lad

Put me down on the list of not getting any of the Legion of Super Heroes toys when they originally came with McDonald's Happy Meals a few years ago. The action figures were based on the cartoon show. I found a Lightning Lad figure still in the original box this morning at a local thrift store for twenty-five cents. A trading card still in the plastic came with it. The figure itself does not stand on its own but I do like the box and card.

Michael Shanks As Hawkman

TV Guide Magazine's Hawkman Swoops Into Smallville has the following first look at Michael Shanks in costume as Hawkman:

The costume is based on the current version of the Winged Wonder. The helmet does look a lot better than the one that was worn by Bill Nuckols on the 1979's tv special, Legends of the Superheroes:

Yes, that's Black Canary (Danuta Rylko Soderman) and Captain Marvel (Garrett Craig) in the picture with him.

The Warlord Van

Now this van featuring the Warlord would have been a cool to have in the 1970s:

Other cool vans featuring superheroes can be found here.

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths Trailer

The trailer for the next animated movie from DC Comics titled Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths with Mark Harmon as Superman and Billy Baldwin as Batman can be watched here. I would have embedded the video but it messes up the look of my blog.

Last Friday's Comics

Last Friday, I had to take a road trip out of town for a doctor's appointment (I will be needing trigger finger surgery for my left middle finger in a few weeks). I stopped in at Hastings afterward and picked up several used comics for ninety-nine cents each. Most of the titles were from Marvel Comics but I did find a few from DC Comics I have no pictures but here is a list of comics that I picked up:

Booster Gold (first series) #21
52 #48
Silverblade #2
Superman #29
Team Titans #1
Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures #6
Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born #2 and 3
Cloak & Dagger #3, 8, 9 and 11
Mutant Misadventures of Cloak & Dagger #2, 3, 4, 5 and 7

The Warlord #8 Preview

Halloween may be over but the treats are still coming in. Newsarma has an exclusive five page preview of The Warlord #8 from DC Comics here. The cover and interior art is by Mike Grell, who also wrote the story.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 27: Weird Mystery Tales #23

The only issue that I have of Weird Mystery Tales is #23 (October 1975) and is a very worn copy (in fact, there is a loose page and a missing page). The series lasted from July/August 1972 to November 1975 with #24 being the last issue. Ernie Chua did the cover and the weird tales include "The Quiz Show" written by Michale Fleisher with art by Fred Carrillo and "Fair Exchange" written b Steve Skeates based on a plot by Sergio Aragones with art by Wallace Wood. The letters page is titled "Witch's Tales". Interesting ads include Sales Leadership Club (sell fifty-eight boxes for a 10 speed racing bike or twenty-five boxes for a portable 8-track tape player), Slim Jim, Hostess Twinkies presents Shazam (yes, they used Captain Marvel's magic word instead of the superhero's actual name) in "Minerva Menace", DC Family giant titles (Super-Team Family, Tarzan Family, Superman Family and Batman Family), Gold Crown/Tank Trap games from Helen of Toy ($2.49 for both), Olympic Sales Club (sell ten boxes for a weather forcasting outfit or six boxes for a Monster Plaster casting kit) and car-in-a-bottle model from Monogram.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 26: Weird War Tales #99, #100 and #121

Dave Cockrum and Dick Giordano did the cover for Weird War Tales (May 1981) for DC Comics. The chilling war tales include "A Gauntlet of Giants" (a War That Time Forgot tale) created and written by Robert Kanigher with art by Dave Cockrum and Jerry Ordway, "A Match Made in Hell" written by Robert Kanigher with art by Ric Estrada, "Man's Best Enemy" written by George Kashdan with art by Steve Ditko and "Divine Wind" written by Mike W. Barr with art by Mar Amongo. The letters page called "A.P.O. Weird War Tales" is shared with the statement of ownership. Interesting ads includes Johnson Smith Company novelties, Bubble Yum, Sea-Monkeys, Hostess Cup Cakes presents Batman in "Hearts of Darkness" and Batman visiting Carol Fein on subscriptions.

Joe Kurbert did the cover of Weird War Tales #100 (June 1981) for DC Comics. The first tale features a crossover between the Creature Commandos and the War That Time Forgot in "Dinosaur Convoy" written Mike W. Barr with art by Bob Hall and Jerry Ordway. Other stories include a one pager entitled "Stop the War, I Want To Get Out!" written by Robin Snyder and daren by Trevor Von Eeden and Brett Breeding followed by "The Scavengers" written by John Warner and art by Vicatan. The letters page features part one of a special index of stories that appeared in Weird War Tales #1 to #50. Interesting ads include Fun Factory novelties, Bubble Yum, Suprman Club ($3.00 for membership that includes poster, newsletter, membership card, certificate, book cover and gold decal), Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents Superman in "Gold Mine Rescue", Life Savers Sweepstakes and Johnson Smith Company novelties.

The Creatures Commandos grace the cover of Weird War Tales #121 (March 1983) and is featured in the first story titled "Death Smiles Twice" written by Robert Kanigher with art by Fred Carrillo. The second story is titled "Gremlins in the Works!" This issue does feature "Meanwhile..." news about DC Comics. The letters page is almost two pages followed by a short DC Coming Comics piece. Interesting ads include Spider-Man video game for Atari, Bubble Yum, short list of comic book conventions, Dungeons & Dragons from TSR, Life Savers find 13 hidden flavors word puzzle and Sg. Rock action figure from Remco featuring art by Joe Kurbert.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 25: The Spectre Comics

DC Comics gave the Spectre his own regular series in 1967 that lasted for ten issues. I have no copies from that first sries. However, the Ghost of Vengeance was back in his own title twenty years later. José Luis García-López did the cover of The Spectre #5 (August 1987). Doug Moench wrote "The Mystery of My Murder" while Gene Colan and Steve Mitchell did the art. The inside front cover has a tribute to E. Nelson Bridwell (1931-1987). "Speculations" was the title of the letters page that was two pages in this issue. Interesting ads include MPC Ertl model cars, Tang and Dungeons & Dragons basic set.

Tom Mandrake did the cover to The Spectre #0 (October 1994) for DC Comics. He also penciled, inked and colored the featured story titled "The Temptation of the Spectre" that was written by John Ostrander. This is part of the third series featuring the Ghost of Vengeance. The issue does feature a letters page, Daily Planet ("Zero Hour For Earth" being the main headline) and "DC Universe" dedicated to Neal Pozner (1955-1994). Interesting ads include Fate, Star Trek annual #5, Metropolis S.C.U., Starman, R.E.B.E.L.S., Flash and Star Trek Master Series from SkyBox.

The second series lasted for thirty-one issues and folded in 1989 but he did not give up the ghost for he was back in 1992 with a third series.

Dave Johnson did the cover of The Spectre #34 (October 1995) for DC Comics. John Ostrander wrote "Blood Suckers" while John Ridgeway provided the artwork. Interesting ads include Underworld Unleashed, Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions movie poster, The Prophecy movie poster, Vampire the Eternal Struggle trading card game from Deckmaster, Batman: Knight Gallery (this is one my to want list due to the different costumes), Sovereign Seven, Shadow Dragon annual #1 (the "Legends" event which provided Year One stories in all the annuals), Batman: Brotherhood of the Bat (Elseworlds one-shot), Batman Man-Bat (three issue Elseworlds mini series) and Mega City's Most Wanted action figures from Judge Dredd.

The third series lasted until #62 (February 1998). The Ghost of Vengeance returned in a fourth series that lasted from 2001 to 2003. Unfortunately, I have none of those issues.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 24: Adventure Comics #431 and #436

The cover of Adventure Comics (February 1974) was done by Jim Aparo, who also penciled the featured story titled "The Wrath of...the Spectre". The back up story is "Is a Snerl Human?" with art by Alex Toth. Interesting ads include Daisy B-B Gun with kid reading comic book in classroom, Charles Atlas, Monster Size Monsters, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer giant size comic, Pop-O-Matic Games (Headache, Trouble, Pop-Cheks, Bingo and Pop-Dog), Super-Hero Stick-Ons (fourteen for two dollars), Super Spectacular issues of Batman #254 and Witching Hour #38, See-Action Football Game and Another Adventure with the Ready Rangers (promoting the new Ready Ranger Mobile Field Pack). This issue does feature a half page subscription ad along with "Behind the Scenes at the DC Comic World" talking about the comicmobile. The letters page, called "Dateline: Adventure", is included in the back.




Jim Aparo was also the cover artist on Adventure Comics #436 (December 1974). He also did the artwork for "The Gasmen and the Spectre" story. Mike Grell did the artwork for the Aquaman story titled "The King is Dead; Long Live the King". Interesting ads include DC Comics titles for twenty cents, authentic Superman costume for only $6.98, Saturday morning on CBS two page spread (Shazam, Partridge Family 2200 AD, Valley of the Dinosaurs, Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Comedy Show and U.S. of Archie), DC Comics titles with 100 pages for sixty cents, giant editions of Ghosts and Batman, Monster Size Monsters (featuring Frankenstein and Bones the skelton) and Monogram's Big Wheels/Big Deal contest. A letters page is included in the back of this issue.

Halloween Countdown 2009 Day 20: Secrets of haunted House #38 and #39

The cover for Secrets of Haunted House #38 (July 1981) was done by Richard F. Buckler and Dick Giordano. Destiny does his one page monologue on the first page. The chilling tales include "The Great Dark God Rises Again", "Slaves of Satan" and Mister E in "Conglomerate of Evil". Bonus features include a one page gag strip called "Wolfman Walk", an all text story titled "Rings of Destiny" and another gag strip called "Do's & Don'ts for Mad Scientists". Interesting ads include Hostess Twinkies Cakes presents Plastic Man in "Gold For Dessert" and 100 toy soldiers in a footlocker for only $1.98.




Richard F. Buckler and Dick Giordano also did the cover for Secrets of Haunted House #39 (August 1981). The haunting tales includes "A Crutch in Time", Mister E in "The Witch-Hounds of Salem" and "A Touch of Silver". "Fate's Falling Leaf" is an all text story. Interesting ads include "Attack of the Mutants" game from Yaquinto Publications, Hostess Fruit Pies presents "Superman vs. the Laughing Gas Bandits", Life Savers sleeping bag and a "Dungeons & Dragons" adventure from TSR.



This ends the coverage of this horror anthology series from DC Comics that I have in my collection.