Panels and Pages… Art and Artists… Creators and Conventions… Musings and Memories…
Archie Sunday Strip, October 30, 1949
The earliest Archie Sunday I’ve ever owned. Also the best.
The whole gang shows up in the opening panel, and everyone gets a turn in the spooky silliness. Bob Montana clearly had some fun with this one.
I stumbled across this early Sunday at SDCC this year and bought it on impulse. Or, to be more accurate, overpaid on impulse.
But you can’t overpay for quality, can you?
Can you?
Happy Halloween!
Tales From The Crypt #25, August 1951
Wallace Wood and film noir. A favorite artist and a favorite fiction genre for me. I’m in, of course.
Okay, so this page is actually from Tales from the Crypt, EC’s best-known horror title. But the look and feel are pure film noir, so I’m counting it. Crime and horror overlap pretty frequently—especially in EC comics, now that I think of it. A rotting corpse—or a witch—might show up along the way, but the atmosphere is still straight out of a noir film.
But I digress.
Funny thing is, despite how much I like this page, I’ve owned it—and parted with it—once before.
Some paste-ups had me convinced that portions of the art were photostats rather than original drawings. Then I learned that Wood sometimes combined original art from different boards onto a single page, whether to incorporate shading from Craftint paper or to rework the storytelling or a “camera angle.”
Unfortunately, I learned that after I’d let it go.
Anyway, that’s probably more in-the-weeds information than you need. All you really need to know is that I really dig this page, and I paid dearly to own it a second time.
That last part I’d just as soon forget myself.
New York City, October 8-11, 2026
Time for one last New York Comic Con update before we roll into the next convention season.
This fall marks 55 years since my first comic book—or any kind of pop culture—convention. So if I look tired… well, I have good reason.
Happy to see so many old friends, but I wish I’d learn to get a few more photos with them before we all wander off in different directions.
Well, it’s good to have goals.
And why, you ask, is Jamie Moy (Albert Moy’s spouse) pointing to my zipped jacket pocket? I’m glad you asked. Because, for once, I had my wallet secured—something she’s been relentlessly reminding me about for a few years.
That zipper isn’t easy to open. But if I were really smart, I’d put the wallet in, sew the pocket shut, and save a lot of money.
New York City, October 8-11, 2026
I’d call this a “realistic” dinosaur, but how would I actually know without a time machine?
Its tail hit me in the head a few times, so that’s realistic enough for me.
It looks like Blue from Jurassic World, although its name tag says “Rocky.” Maybe Blue is his stage name.
I never did figure out why its handler was dressed as if he’d wandered out of The Matrix. Maybe it relates to the most recent Jurassic World film, which I skipped. Come to think of it, it could relate to one of the previous films. Those weren’t just terrible; they weren’t memorable.
Or maybe the guy just likes The Matrix and has a pet Velociraptor.
But, as always, I digress.
One of the best things about this encounter was how many people barely gave the dinosaur a second glance. Then again, this was a comic book convention. In New York.
You’d be surprised how little attention a dinosaur attracts.
Or maybe you wouldn’t.
New York City, October 8-11, 2026
New York City, October 8-11, 2026
Twenty years of New York Comic Con?! I should get a survivor’s merit badge. (Well, in fairness, I did miss two of them.)
Still, NYCC has the best cosplay of any show I attend. Take away the maddening crowds, and I might even have some fun.
Marvel Premiere #3, July 1972
Barry Windsor-Smith drawing Doctor Strange. I wish we’d gotten more of that.
This page is from Marvel Premiere #3, the launch of Doc’s new bronze-age solo series and the only issue of the run fully penciled by Smith. He also plotted the story, with Stan Lee handling the script.
And what a story. Doctor Strange vs. Doctor Strange. It gave Smith plenty to work with, and this terrific page is one of the results. I could explain what’s happening, but that would spoil some of the fun. It’s worth reading.
Trust me on this.
Smith helped usher in a new wave of young, “hipper” artists taking on Doc. Windsor-Smith. Starlin. Brunner. Different approaches, but all well suited to a character whose adventures could go pretty much anywhere. The stories and art got even trippier—which, considering where Ditko and Colan had already taken him, is saying something.
Marvel had been easing Doc back into circulation, first as a founding member of the Defenders and then with a major guest-starring role in Amazing Spider-Man. Now he had a series again. Well, technically, he took over Marvel Premiere for nearly two years before getting his own title back. Close enough.
One fully penciled issue. I’m glad we got it. Like I said, wish we’d gotten a few more.
It’s October, so we’re celebrating Halloween all month with some appropriately spooky selections from the collection. No costume required. (Although it helps.)
September 25-27, 2026
Just a little cosplay before I go…
Baltimore, September 25-27, 2026
And even more talent…
Baltimore, September 25-27, 2026
So much talent…
