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Friday, December 16, 2011
Now Looking Forward To The Avengers Film (2012) On May 4th of 20112 And...!
Mood:  party time!
Topic: Comic Books - New

                                        

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Is Now Looking Forward To Viewing...

The Avengers (2012) Film!

To Be Released Friday, May 4th of 2012 And... Attending FCBD on Saturday, May 5th, the Next Day!

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 THE AVENGERS COMICS at my online comic book shop!

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MARVEL SUPERHEROES COMICS at my own online comic book shop!
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Left Column / Top Photo:  Quite honestly... The Avengers 'teaser' poster didn't do much for me...
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This Column / Top Photo: Now THAT'S more like it! Definitely seeing the Big Guns of Marvel Comics all lined up in a film poster gets me excited! (L-R) The Mighty Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, & Captain America!
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This Column / Bottom Photo: I've always had a liking for Hawkeye... Hoping that film includes him a bit more than just his cameo in the 'Thor' film from 2011! (L-R) Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the villain who brings them altogether to form The Mighty Avengers... Loki! 
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Now I'm excited for Friday, May 4th of 2012... Plus the next day is Saturday, May 5th, the 2012 Free Comic Book Day event... 'Nuff Said!
  

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3564:

My Thanks to Beth Accomando, of Cinema Junkie, for starting off my day right!

Last night, I posted blog #3563 on the passing of Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America for Marvel Comics, and posted it as usual on my Facebook pages, both 'personal profile' and my 'fan' page.  That was sad news...

Overnight, Beth had clicked the 'Like' option on my wall post about the blog, and in return I went in to see what she had been posting the last few days on her own Facebook fan / brand page.

There I found that she had posted the brand new film posters for The Avengers, the Marvel Film that is being released on May 4th of 2012.  Which naturally includes Captain America! So although the co-creator of Captain America has passed away this week, his co-creation continues on for even more people to see next year. A 'living legacy' if you will.

I'm glad that Joe Simon, who turned 98 years old two months ago, was able to see the Captain America Film earlier this Summer. To me, that is the 'Best' Superhero film done yet! I normally only give a Near Mint (NM) 9.4 out of a possible 10.0 rating for comics or comic book movies, but for the Cap film, I had to give it a Near Mint / Mint (NM/M) 9.8! Here's the link to blog #3473 with Vinnie's / Tina's / and my review.

Until these two new posters... I hadn't gotten excited about the film... Due to the changes in Director, etc.... I haven't been expecting much, quite honestly.  For more on the background of the upcoming film, please see the Wikipedia entry.

But I now feel what Martin Goodman, founder of Timely / Atlas / Marvel Comics must have felt, after coming up with the idea to have a 'superhero team comic book'.  Just the very idea of all these great superheroes on the Big Screen together is exciting!  Seriously! 

Yeah, I'm not expecting it to be as good as the Captain America Film... But just the 'idea' of seeing all of the superheroes on the Big Screen together is exciting to me! 

Ever since 1963, when I first saw Avengers #1 comic book with Thor / Hulk / Ant-Man / Wasp / Iron Man on the cover! Sheesh!  I can hardly wait!

And yeah... If the film doesn't turn out to be the 'winner' that it should be... There's always the next day... Saturday, May 5th for the 2012 Free Comic Book Day to attend! 

I'm hoping that this will be the Great Weekend that it should be!

As I used to say when I was a Marvelmaniac... 'Make Mine Marvel'!  At least for that May of 2012 weekend!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!


NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER:

My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,564 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,643 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 
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Posted by makeitsomarketing at 7:39 AM PST
Updated: Friday, December 16, 2011 8:12 AM PST
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
Joe Simon - October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011
Mood:  sad
Topic: Comic Book Artists

                                        

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Is Sad To Mention The Passing Of...

Mr. Joe Simon

(October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011)

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 JOE SIMON ITEMS at my online comic book shop!

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JACK KIRBY ITEMS at my own online comic book shop!
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Although both Joe Simon and Jack Kirby did additional work separately after their creative team broke up... So many fans and collectors of their works remember them best as 'Simon & Kirby'!
  

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3563:

It was just last week that I blogged about the passing of comics great, Jerry Robinson, (blog #3559).  

Tonight, I'm sad to relay the information that another comics great, Mr. Joe Simon passed away on Wednesday, December 14th...

It is getting late in the day here on the West Coast... and at first I was looking through the photos I've taken over the years at comic conventions for a good photo or two to run here. 

But unfortunately I've not yet scanned all the images from years ago when I didn't have a digital camera.

Plus, after recently reviewing blogging Mr. Simon's works with Jack Kirby, (blogs #3207 &  #3530 are a couple that come to mind), I thought it fitting to include a couple of photos of Joe & Jack, along with a cropped photo of Joe by himself in the first column of this blog's header.

Here is the link to a list of Joe Simon's credits in comics via the Grand Comics Database (GCD).

Here is the Wikipedia entry to his public life, where you can read more of his accomplishments over the decades.

I enjoyed reading his works with Jack, and his own later solo works.  His contributions to the comics industry will be remembered for decades to follow...

My condolences to his family and friends.

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!


NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER:

My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,563 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,643 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 
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Posted by makeitsomarketing at 5:39 PM PST
Updated: Thursday, December 15, 2011 6:42 PM PST
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
My Take On: oMGcow by Shekia Lugtu
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Comic Books - New

                                        

oMGcow in Print!

By Sheika Lugtu at the 2011 Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC)!

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 THE MOST COLLECTIBLE ITEMS at my own online comic book shop!

-
Photo this column: Sheika Lugtu at her table during the recnet 2011 Long Beach Comic Con!  A good comic con in the Los Angeles Metro Area to meet new comic book creators!
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Top Photo left column:  A copy of the oMGcow comic in print that Sheika Lugtu signed to this blogger!
  

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3562:

Tina LoSasso and I met Sheika Lugtu at a previous comic convention, and made a few suggestions as to her table's presentation to get her creations seen by more passersby. As always with new comics creators breaking into the con circuit, there are a lot persons who would like her works, if they only knew about them!  But how to get those passersby to stop long enough to find out?!

So Tina and I were both pleased to once again see Sheika at the recent 2011 Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC). Sheika had taken our advice to heart and rennovated her table into a great Point Of Sale (POS) presentation!   Both Tina and I loved the presentation, and there were other passersby that stopped while we were talking with Sheika!

Sheika was kind enough to pose for new photos, and gave me a copy of her web comic's hard copy comic book, that you see her holding in the top right of this blog post.  She was kind enough to autograph a copy for me, as seen at the top left of this post. Thanks for that, Sheika!

The comic book itself was a self published comic, in black & white, with 28 interior pages.  In a 5 & 1/2" by 8 & 1/2" size format. The comic published selected comics from the web comic site from January - March of 2011.

I had told Sheika at the earlier con, that I no longer reviewed online comics or .pdf copies of comics, as I had been flooded with those requests and stopped doing so as of March / May of 2010.  I strictly stay with hard copy format reading for possible review blog purposes. 

Additionally I had told her that when at a comic con, that a hard copy would be the best lasting 'impression' that a con goer would leave with.  She had followed up with that by self publishing a good representation of her works during that 1st quarter of 2011.

What is oMGcow?   It is an auto-biographical series of comics and short stories by Sheika Lugtu.  The comic began on August 2009, detailing Sheika's move to Long Beach and the strart of a pursuit in art.

Along the way, she makes new friends, struggles with her inner demons and gets a kitten!

The comic is ongoing (in color! online only), at oMGcow.com!

I believe that this first hard copy issue is a step in the right direction for Sheika to promote her webseries, and has done a fine job in selecting and publishing it.

I would give it a VERY FINE / NEAR MINT (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 possible comic book grading scale, for a promotional comic book.  Again, due to its size format, and non-color comic book cover, it isn't a standard comic book issue, that you would find printed by ComiXpress or Ka-Blamm. It does serve its purpose though, for a promotional comic book, to introduce the buyer to read it, like it, and follow it to the web comic which is updated more frequently.

You can find it, and her web comic at the oMGcow.com web site.

I'm not for sure about Sheika's upcoming convention appearances, but she does have a blog as well that I'm sure she will mention those possible appearances at.

Also, for those of you interested in her past works, here is what she has done so far since the start of her pursuit in art starting in 2009:

- Fight Comic by Christopher Downes (2010)
- Sadness Anthology edited by Hazel Newlevant. (2011)
- Guest Comic: ACES (2011)
- Illustration work for Kung Pow Chicken  (2011)
- A 3-page comic for "Darkest Day: Comics for Christchurch" anthology by Funtime Comics (2011)
- An illustration for "What Use is a Book without Pictures?" project to illustrate Alice in Wonderland. Organized by Notld Reanimated. (2011)

Thanks again to Sheika Lugtu for bringing her updates to our attention at the 2011 Long Beach Comic Con. Great job in rennovating your con circuit presence, Sheika!

Looking forward to seeing what you have the next time at a con. See you in 2012!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!


NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER:

My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,562 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,643 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 
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Posted by makeitsomarketing at 6:22 AM PST
Updated: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 6:58 AM PST
Post Comment | Permalink
Monday, December 12, 2011
My Take On: The 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con!
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Comic Cons

                                        

The 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con!

Held At The Frank and Son Collectable Show Warehouse - December 10th of 2011!

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Click Here to add This ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com to Your list of NetworkedBlogs!

  

 THE MOST COLLECTIBLE ITEMS at my own online comic book shop!

-
Photo this column: Michael D Hamersky, co-author of the 'Gotham City 14 Miles', at his book signing table at the  2011 Nuke The Fridge Con!
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Top Photo left column:  Pat Jankiewicz, (author of 'You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry - The Incredible Hulk TV Show), The Incredible Hulk cosplayer, and Michael D Hamersky taken next to Pat's & Michael's tables!
  

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3561:

Tina LoSasso and I are back from the 2011 Nuke the Fridge Con, which was held Saturday, December 10th at the Frank and Son Collectable Show Warehouse, in the City of Industry, California.

We both had a great time at this con, which was held in the event center portion of the Frank and Son Warehouse.

I met Frank Zamarripa this trip, (the 'Frank' of Frank and Son), who was a great host, making sure that the event within his own show as running smoothly.

Louis Love, of NukeTheFridge.com, and promoter of the Nuke The Fridge Con, was very gracious and on top of everything that was going on in the event center, that was basically in the 'middle' of the gigantic warehouse.

When Tina and I arrived there Saturday morning, just before 7AM, after driving from Carlsbad, there was already a long line of people waiting to get in!

Most of those in line were waiting to go to the signings of Stan Lee & Mike Tyson, who wouldn't be there when the doors opened at 9AM, but these folks wanted to be sure to be there early for it! 

The access for Tina & myself to unload was pretty easy, as we had one big cart load of boxes to bring in.  We brought several boxes of comic books / magazines / promo items / stocking stuffer items to sell for the gas money for the trip. 

That's because the main emphasis for us was the book signing for 'Gotham City 14 Miles', of which we had a case of the revised first edition on hand for sale. The case had just come in the week before, just in time with a new price point of $15.99, (which is why you see the sign in the above top right photo for $17.00 including California sales tax).

We were fortunate to be situated next to Pat Jankiewicz, author of 'You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry' - The Incredible Hulk TV Show Companion Book that I review blogged recently, (blog #3546), after meeting him for the first time at the 2011 ComiKaze Expo in Los Angeles.

Pat, who is a giant among men both in size & personality, stopped 'The Incredible Hulk' cosplayer as he went by our tables, and we had a photo taken with him, as seen by the photo at the top left of this blog post. (When you right click on the photo, you can view it at the 450 pixel width.)

Besides Pat and myself with books, the actual main headliners were Stan (The Man) Lee and (Iron) Mike Tyson!  It was funny for both Tina and myself to see the difference in the attendees who came for those two headliners.  I'm talking about mode of dress and what they were bringing / buying for those two to sign.  The two were at different corners at the end of the exhibit hall, and you could see the differences in the crowds they brought in with their bieng there. 

A highlight of the Con was when Stan & Mike met on stage for the first time!  A big crowd watched that, and I'll be uploading my video of that at my own YouTube channel, 'HamerskyOnComics' in the near future.

Also, as I have time to upload them... The photos taken on my Sony CyberShot will be uploaded to the special photo album at my Facebook Fan Page, 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con. The few photos already uploaded there were from my Droid phone's camera feature, which isn't as good of a photo taker, but goes instantly to my Facebook Fan Page.

In addition to Stan, Mike, Pat, and myself... There were other celebrities in attendance for signing autographs.  Including Reb (Captain America) Brown, Richard Hatch of Battlestar Galactica, Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees, and others. 

Our table was actually placed right by the 2011 Playmate of the Year, Claire Sinclair, so there was a big crowd at our left during the middle of the day, after she showed up for a signing.  Not a comics buying crowd, but a crowd nonetheless. Actually, one of my comics creators friends had done a painting / illustration of Claire for an event, (shout out to Grasiela Rodgriguez!).

There were also several comics creators on hand, including Tone Rodriguez, Mark Dos Santos, Chris Moreno, and others.  I even picked up a comic book for a future review blog while I quickly walked the interior of the 'Event Center' section of the warehouse. 

However, I didn't walk every aisle of the con, which is a change for me.  I usually check out almost all of the other tables at the cons we go to, but in this case I had a book signing to be at.  Plus it was Tina's second con to be behind the table selling items that we had brought.  At times she had several attendees checking out the boxes of stocking stuffers we had brought for only a dollar each!

Another highlight, which started at 4:30 PM, was the Cosplay Costume Contest, hosted by none other than Kit Quinn!  There were ten entrants in the contest, and I have a couple of videos to upload, as well as photos from this program.  Just have to make the time to do so!

That's about it for this 'review blog'.  Please note that I may be a little more 'glowing' about this con, due to the fact that I 'participated' in it, rather than just attending.

However I know that both I and Tina enjoyed what we did see of the 2011 Nuke the Fridge Con, which was held inside of the massive Frank and Show Collectable Show, which is open each Wednesday night, and on Saturdays.

Plus the hundreds of attendees who came in to get autographs from the two main headliners, Stan and Mike, were not disappointed!  I don't believe that Stan ever took a break during his signing!  Matter of fact, we had several attendees come over to our table looking for comics that Stan Lee had written or had started with his co-creators on the title, so that Stan could sign them! (I do want to point out though, that the signature tickets that were sold by Desert Wind Collectibles entitled the purchaser to an item being signed by Stan, not 5 minutes or more with Stan himself.  Which is why there was the more accessability for having Stan sign so many items!) 

BTW, If you are in the Los Angeles Metro Area... or visiting there during those days, drop in and see this Show! The Nuke The Fridge Con is only held annually at this location, but there are other events in the 'Event Center' portion of the warehouse during the year.

My thanks again to Louis Love for the invite to this Con... We were happy to attend and set up a signing table!

For those of you that weren't able to attend this signing... I will be selling the rest of the copies via my eBay Store, as seen at this link:  Gotham City 14 Miles at ComicBooksCircus.com!  Oh, and I do have to charge for shipping for media mail shipping.  USA addresses only, please!

Note: I will also be posting some pics over at my 'event page' for the signing as well, which can be found at 'Gotham City 14 Miles Book Signing At Nuke The Fridge Con'.

You are invited to 'Like' my Facebook Fan Page, which can be found by clicking the link immediately below...

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!


NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER:

My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,561 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,643 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 
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Posted by makeitsomarketing at 7:28 AM PST
Updated: Monday, December 12, 2011 8:42 AM PST
Post Comment | Permalink
Friday, December 9, 2011
My Take On: Alter Ego #105 - Tales From The Code!
Mood:  rushed
Topic: Comic Books - New

                                        

Alter Ego #105

Cover Feature: Tales From The Code!

Click Here to see ABOUT THE SELLER in our eBay Store!

Click Here to add This ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com to Your list of NetworkedBlogs!

  

 THE MOST COLLECTIBLE ITEMS at my own online comic book shop!

-
Photo this column: The Front Cover to Alter Ego #105 - with the Cover Feature, Tales From The Code!  Plus:  Cal Massey, Comic Books Artist!
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Top Photo left column:  The Comics Code Authority Seal, used by the Comics Magazine Association of America!
  

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3560:

I wanted to bring to your attention this recent issue of Alter Ego #105, as a special issue on an important topic that should be of interest to anyone that has a love of comics history, like I do!

First, here is what the publisher states the issue is about:

"ALTER EGO #105 (84 pages with color, $7.95) proudly presents "Tales from the Code!"  The coming of the Comics Code Authority in 1954-55 changed comics greatly—and we document that process with comic art and script "BEFORE" and "AFTER" the CCA got hold of them, with art by SIMON & KIRBY, DITKO, BUSCEMA, SINNOTT, GOULD, COLE, STERANKO, KRIGSTEIN, O'NEIL, GLANZMAN, ORLANDO, WILLIAMSON, HEATH, and many others!  Plus: FCA ("Fawcett Collectors of America") with MARC SWAYZE & ROY ALD, MICHAEL T. GILBERT exploring more comics history in Mr. Monster's Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY on early comics fandom, JIM AMASH's interview with Timely/Atlas artist CAL MASSEY, and more! Featuring a fabulous new Spider-Man cover by JOSH MEDORS! Edited by ROY THOMAS."

The Comics Code Authority Seal is a little younger than I am, so I remember that almost of the comics that I read as a child had this all important seal.  With the exception of the Dell Comics & Classics Illustrated, the seal was a large prominent fixture on the front cover of each comic book that I read.

Being a young kid at the time, and not knowing anything other than the current comics that were being sold in the late 1950s, or that were in the barbershop, I didn't see the non-Comics Code that all the anti-Comics Hysteria was against. There weren't any LCBS (local comic book shops) in the late 1950s or early 1960s in any of the areas that my Dad, a Navy man, was stationed at. The forerunner of LCBS, used bookstores, usually didn't have these pre-code comics, unless they were kept behind the counters or in special rooms.

As blogged about before, it wasn't until the late 1960s that I found several of those pre-Code comics at Lanning's Bookstore in Downtown San Diego, as written about in blog #3443.

Which was also the time of the 'Underground Comix' movement, which definitely did not have the CCA Seal of Approval!

So this cover feature definitely was one I had to read!  As the last comic publishers, DC & Archie, recently stopped using the Comics Code Authority for the approval process in early / mid 2011.

Roy Thomas, editor of the magazine, stated right off that this special issue had been in the works for several years, but it was the announcement that the CCA Seal was no longer being used that prompted him to publish this issue.

The vast majority of this issue was devoted to this cover feature.  And I'm glad it did.  In this one publication there is a lot of background history, along with illustrated examples of CCA censorship and mini-interviews by those in the comics industry that were there.

A fine cover feature article to chronicle the start and finally the end of the usage of the CCA Seal.

As for myself... I find that although some comics creators may have chafed under the CCA's authority, that it indeed was something that probably kept the comics industry going through that period of time from the mid 1950s.

Yes, a lot of comics creators left the industry at the implementation of the Code, due to a lot of comics publishers shutting down, but there had to be some self regulation of sorts to 'save' the comics industry at the time.   As if the publishers didn't do it... The Big Government surely would!

A well written extended article, with lots of illustrations and photos, and truly a magazine issue of the history of the CCA without too much prejudice being inserted into the article. This is a pretty even handed article about those on both sides of the issue of the industry's attempt at censorship by self regulation.

Definitely a good issue for comics historians to read, and for those of you that are younger and weren't there during this period. The CCA had started waning in influence in the 1970s, as black & white format comics magazines were being published, but was still in place for the color comics that were being published by the mainstream comics publishers. The use of interviews from those were there in the industry at the time was well placed.

Note: The second feature in this magazine was an interview with Cal Massey, who worked for Timely / Atlas.  I found the article to be of interest to me, but was overshadowed by the main cover feature article in this issue for those that pick up a comic book or magazine about comics from what is on the front cover.  Still a well written article about an African-American who broke into comics, and was in the industry for a period of years. Here is a list of his comic book credits, provided by the Grand Comics Database.

The additional regular features in this issue, Mr. Monster's Comic Crypt, and P.C. Hamerlinck's FCA #164 are not covered in this blog.

My comic book grade for this issue is a NEAR MINT (NM) 9.4 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

I may have a copy of this issue in my ownline comic book shop, ComicBooksCircus.com, along with most of the 100+ issues of this magazine, (currently 70 different issues in backstock).

If not, you can also purchase it direct from the publisher, at TwoMorrows.com.

Note:  There won't be a 'weekend edition' of this blog, as I will be at 'my' book signing event at the Nuke The Fridge Con on Saturday!  If you are in the Los Angeles Metro Area.... Feel 'Free' to stop by, as the parking is 'Free', and the admission to the con is also 'Free'!   I'll be signing 'my' book, 'Gotham City 14 Miles', and also selling a couple thousand 'Dollar Comics' from my vast inventory of comics!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!


NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER:

My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,560 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,639 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

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Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

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 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 
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Posted by makeitsomarketing at 5:23 AM PST
Updated: Friday, December 9, 2011 6:33 AM PST
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