So… You support much of one party’s political platform, and the other guys win, and you somehow benefit from that opposing victory anyway?
Talk about mixed emotions.
This Bloom County Sunday strip appeared in print six weeks before I had my first “real” job — with a salary that certainly that did NOT benefit from any sort of Reagan tax cut.
And yet this specific strip remained burned in my brain forever. When we (IDW Publishing) added Bloom County reprints to our line-up around 2009, I asked if Berkley still had this specific strip, and if so, would he sell it to me.
He still had it… and he gifted it to me. A gift I treasure, and one that I am indeed very thankful for.
Marvel’s superhero business “blew up” in 1966. A cliché, maybe. But thanks to the Marvel cartoons airing in nationwide syndication that fall, Marvel’s licensing and merchandising business went from pretty much from negligible to ubiquitous, overnight.
I loved those cartoons. I didn’t fully understand that they were pretty much “animating” on the cheap by mostly directly lifting and moving around the actual comic book pages and panels, and at six-years old I didn’t care. (Technically, these cartoons are not much more than primitive motion comics.)
I bought a lot of that merch. The comics of course, were the main thing. But the cards. And the stickers. Dumb gags I admit. But I loved the Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, et al, art in miniature.
So, when I saw Shaky Kane’s original painted tribute to Marvel “bubblegum” cards at the Jack Kirby art exhibit in LA this past summer, it knocked me out, flooding me with (literally) sweet memories.
Unfortunately, it had already sold. This bummed me out of course, until one of my pals with me that day, the brilliant (and extremely logical) designer Stan Madaloni, said to me:
“Why don’t you reach out to him see if he’ll make another one for you.”
Uh. Duh.
Shaky agreed, and, although I hate to use another cliché, the rest, is in fact, history.
The second one is now fortunately, and gratefully, in my possession.
Both Donruss and Philadelphia Gum (“Swell”) beat Topps to the punch in the Marvel business in 1967, with cards and stickers respectively. Topps found a way in with the odd Marvel Flyers collection (designs from Wally Wood’s studio) and the mini-comics satire “Krazy Little Comics”, with art by Wood, Gil Kane and others. (Scripts by Roy Thomas.)
Final thoughts: If I could go back in time and tell seven-year Greg that he would one day work for both Topps AND Marvel, he’d probably tell me I’m nuts and chase me away.
Scott HannaScott Eder & Vincent ZurzuloLarry HamaTimothy ZahnMiguel MendoncaJim SalicrupTim SeelyTom DerrnicickJae LeeRyan BenjaminTodd NauckSara PichelliChris ClaremontPatrick HorvathDave DormanElenora CarliniAdam KubertSimone Di MeoFreddie Williams IIThomas NachlikMarco ChecchettoAnthony MarquesLee WeeksAndy Park
In honor of Batman Day — and the caped crusader’s 85th birthday — here’s a link to all the posts that have featured Batman and his cast of colorful allies — and even more colorful villains:
We’ve been celebrating the Dark Knight throughout the month of September; one more bat-post to load next week, and then it’s off to October and monsters and ghouls, et al.
Marc SilvestriMike McKone & Lena Leal-FloydJoe QuesadaArt AdamsBill Schanes & Tim LenaghanNorm!Klaus JansonJo DuffyStan SakaiDavid FinchDavid Armstrong — Holding an Aaron Lopresti commission he won in a betBecky Foote with TronIra FriedmanAndrew LabradaPeter KuperDave Johnson & Jimmy PalmiottiEric Powell & Billy TucciFrédéric Manzano, Steve Morger, Greg GoldsteinGreg Goldstein & Joe JuskoIDW Reunion Tour!
