Rust was Weird

This week the score from an ebay auction came in: All 13 issues of the 1987 series of Rust by Now Comics. My brother had two issues of this (as it turns out, the last two) when we were kids, and those issues had left us curious about the rest of the comic. 

Well, since I bought them as a gift for my brother, I haven't read them yet, so I can only report what I know from the internet and the two issues I have read, but in brief, Rust is the story of a cop who presumably through some sort of accident gets super-tough skin, acid blood, and a gruesome appearance. The original writer was Steve Miller, but most of the run is written by Fred Schiller. The art is most by Tony Atkins and Jim Brozman.

I gather most of the series is Rust taking on various non-super-powered bad guys. The first issue we read was issue 12 that is the culmination of a storyline involving Rust taking on a cult. It had an eye-catching cover and a preview for Now's Terminator comic. The next issue blurb promises: "the end of the world."

And this was not hyperbole.

The final issue (September 1988) has a deadly plague spreading across the globe. Rust and his (I guess) love interest are separated by events and presumably unaware the other is alive for most of the story. It's a hell of a way to bring a truncated run to an end!

While I admire the audacity of that ending, it's no wonder the 2nd Rust series in 1989 completely ignores it.

Spinner Rack Flashback: The Brave and the Bold vol 1 #200

Brave & the Bold vol 1 #200

Cover Date: July 1983

On Sale Date: April 21, 1983

Editor Len Wein

Cover Artists Jim Aparo, Anthony Tollin

Story Title:  "Smell of Brimstone, Stench of Death!"

Penciller: Dave Gibbons

Writer: Mike W. Barr

Inker: Gary Martin

Letterer: Dave Gibbons, Gaspar Saladino

Colorist: Adrienne Roy

Trey: This comic was the end of the road for The Brave and the Bold, a series that started in 1955. It was initially an anthology book of adventure strips featuring the likes of the Silent Knight, the Viking Prince, the Golden Gladiator, and Robin Hood, but with issue 25 it got a makeover as a "try out" book for new concepts/characters. The original Suicide Squad got their start here, as did the Silver Age Hawkman, and then in #28 a little group you may have heard debuted: The Justice League of America.

With issue #50, it became a team-up title, and with issue #74, exclusively a Batman team-up book. The title was the first to feature Neal Adams on Batman and the place where Adams' redesign of Green Arrow debuted.

I didn't know any of that stuff when I read this issue as a kid, though. What captivated me about this issue was this was the first place I was exposed to the idea of Earth-One and Earth-Two. Here was a Batman and Robin that acted like the ones I was used to in the cartoon, and then this darker, serious (and somehow sadder to 10 year-old me due to his Robin-lessness) other Batman.

Jason: The contrast between the golden age pastiche and the state-of-the-art early 80s Batman (and the Earths portrayed here is stark, both in style and substance. I felt a pang that the kinder, gentler, zanier Batman of old depicted here was by this time no longer available in the comics. The Earth-Two stories I remember from the Adventure Comics a handful of years before this were as modern and "adult" as anything else on the stands at the time. Earth-Two Batman was already officially, canonically "dead", at least as much as can be managed in the comics!

Trey: In the main story, Earth-Two Nicholas Lucien is a B-grade villain with a devil gimmick who is defeated by Batman and Robin and put into a long coma by a head injury. He revives 28 years later in Arkham to find himself an old man, and Batman dead and thus beyond his vengeance.  Unwilling to accept this, he mentally reaches out to that other him he always sensed existed, a respectable businessman on Earth-One. He essentially possesses that version of himself to execute a terroristic plan to lure Earth-One Batman into a trap and kill him.

And then, there was a preview for a brand new comic! Batman and the Outsiders. New comics with a whole slate of new (some just to me, some completely new) characters. That was not the sort of thing that happened every day, in my experience.

Jason: Indeed! With no generic filler or reprints, this special double-size issue delivers bang for the buck admirably, especially for its era.

Trey: The main story isn't as mindblowing as I found it to be as a child, but I still think it's a good one, in no small part to Gibbons shifting art styles for Earth-One and Earth-Two. I also think Brimstone as a good central motif for a Batman villain and could have been used more, though I do like the implication that Golden Age Gotham might have been awash in theatrical criminal wannabes and almost-wases. I also think it's a nice twist that the so-called World's Greatest Detective never knows what exactly was going on here.

Jason: The opening pastiche sets the tone for the level of realism one is to expect from this incarnation of the Caped Crusader. By the time we're asked to swallow the whole possession from another, more cartoony reality angle, the premise seems perfectly reasonable in the context of this tale and we need not ask questions. The Golden Age sequence was delightful, and the incrementally more sober Late Bronze Age sequence delivered as well.

Gibbons turns in a hell of a job here. His trademark precision and beautifully rendered backgrounds, his eye for meaningful details (one of the hoods' cartoony cauliflower ear, etc.), and his ability to present multiple styles that transition seamlessly elevate this work and render harmless any flaws in the story. It's an early career tour de force, I tell you!

Trey: It's also billed as a Batman and Batman team-up, but the two Batmen never meet.

Jason: The cover is nebulous enough to fit within the ethical standards of comics of the day. It doesn't actually guarantee anything. Never trust a cover, as the savvy spinner-rack devotee of 1983 already knew!

Comics 2015: The Ugly

So, I talked about some Good comics from 2015 and some Bad moves by comic companies.
Today I'll talk about some of the Ugly things in the comics industry and culture.

Comic Book Prices

Is $4.99 too much to pay?

Comics are starting to cost too damn much. Back in 2014, both Marvel and DC started testing the waters for a $4.99 price point for comics. At the time, there was a good bit of push back from the fan community on this with the guys at theOutHousers.com asking fans to Say No To Five Dollar Comics.

And while it seems we avoided the $4.99 weekly comic at the comic shops for the most part, DC did move to $4.99 on the newsstand. Also, I still see both Marvel and DC using that price point on comics they know are going to be big sellers (Vader Down, Old Man Logan, Batman Europa, ect...)

Check out this list of top sellers from November 2015. Look how many of them are $4.99 or more. (Numbers from www.comichron.com )

Rank	Issue	#	Price
1	Dark Knight III Master Race	1	$5.99
2	Star Wars Vader Down	1	$4.99
3	Deadpool	1	$4.99
4	Secret Wars	7	$3.99
5	Extraordinary X-Men	1	$4.99
6	All New All Different Avengers	1	$4.99
7	Star Wars	11	$3.99
8	Uncanny X-Men	600	$5.99
9	Star Wars	12	$3.99
10	All New Wolverine	1	$4.99
11	Darth Vader	13	$3.99
12	Mighty Thor	1	$4.99
13	Batman	46	$3.99
14	Amazing Spider-Man	3	$3.99
15	Deadpool	2	$3.99
16	Darth Vader	12	$3.99
17	Batman Europa	1	$4.99
18	Ms. Marvel	1	$4.99
19	Carnage	1	$3.99
20	All New Hawkeye	1	$3.99

Note: November was a bit harsher than most preceding months with 10 out of 20 comics priced more than $3.99. September and October only had 4 and 5 comics in this range. However, December was second highest (8 out of 20) which makes me wonder if we aren't seeing an edging up by both companies. If both companies continue down this road, I think it's going to cause many fans to just feel like they can't afford the hobby anymore. Heck, DC may have already have done that with their weekly and soon bi-weekly publishing strategies.

And while the specter of $4.99 comics may never emerge as a real threat to the industry, it's possible that $3.99 comics have already taken their toll. Personally speaking, I know that I'm very hard pressed to buy a comic that's priced at $3.99. Comics at the $2.99 price range seem to be getting rarer and rarer (especially among independent publishers which I find myself increasing drawn to.) There are some exceptions and Comixology is good about having sales on older titles, but my weekly purchases have definitely dropped dramatically over the years.

How about you?
Are you buying as many comics as you were a year ago?

Quickdraw Cancellations

Cancelled?

Pulling the plug on new series seems to be a trend that's gaining appalling speed among the big two. The recent quick cancellations among the DC You line wasn't just alarming, but embarrassing. Some of the series that might have caught on with a little more time and promotion were killed after just a few issues. Now, several months later, Marvel seems to be doing the same thing with many of the All New, All Different books as Bleeding Cool reports that listings on Amazon suggest that Marvel is cancelling some of the new series after just half a dozen issues.

As a fan of older comics, I think of all the old D and C-list comics that lasted more than a year and it's just sort of mind boggling how fast comics get cancelled these days. The days when an artist or writer could work for years on a title like DC Presents or Fantastic Four are just gone. That's gotta make making a living as a comics professional (among the big two) a hell of a lot tougher now.

Attacks Against Progress

Okay, confession time. Many years ago, Chris Sims wrote a well reasoned article on what he termed as Regressive Storytelling at DC and the negative effects it was having on diversity within the DC universe. The gist of the article was pretty simple. As DC catered to older fans (and writers) desire to see Silver/Bronze Age alias of characters like Atom or Firestorm restored in comics, they were unfortunately replacing the more culturally diverse current versions of the characters.

The DC Regression Path

At the time (2010), I was one of those fans who was happy to see characters like Barry Allen and Ray Palmer return, so I wasn't entirely on board with Chris' stance (though I fully recognized he had a point.)

What Warner Bros Should have made.

Fast forward a  year later and DC presents a Green Lantern movie with Hal Jordan instead of John Stewart. That's when the the real problem struck home for me. Considering that John Stewart's appearances in the Justice League cartoon series most likely made him the more recognizable among kids at the time, I thought The Green Lantern movie would have been the perfect time for DC to step up to the plate with a non-white hero. When it was decided to go with Hal Jordan instead of John Stewart, I was very disappointed. Since then, I've been a lot more sensitive to the need for comics and comic book movies to embrace diversity.

Now, as comics are starting to make strides toward better diversification, I see a lot of fans throwing stones at what they perceive as Social Justice Warriors. Some of these attacks against progress come under the guise of concern like this article from WhatCulture.com:

There’s nothing wrong with Captain America being black of course, but why isn’t making The Falcon a character who can carry his own series in the role he’s best known for a priority? The mantle of Thor being passed to a woman has actually made for a great tale, but the reveal again shows an unnecessary reliance on focusing more on recognisable brands than characters. ~WhatCulture.com

This view point is parodied in an issue of Thor with the Absorbing Man:

The Absorbing Man as the voice of jerky comic fans

Other protests are often more juvenile, sexist or racist in nature. This year, with its Lady Thor and Falcon Cap seemed to lead to a lot more of the protests than I've seen in previous years. When I compare that to the refreshing influx of new readers we are seeing with comics like Batgirl, it's a bit depressing.

Still, as older fan, it's hard not to get upset when we see characters we remember change. As a guy who remembers the old Guardians of the Galaxy, I wasn't happy with how the lineup of characters changed from my ancient Bronze Age memories. However, once I made my peace with it, I was able to enjoy the movie quite a bit. It's not like the old comics don't exist anymore.

So while I still may have an Old Man Comics knee-jerk reaction to some changes, I find if I keep an open mind, my old memories and new experiences can easily coexist.

And that keeps the hobby fun for me.

Have a great day!

- Jim