Graham Crackers

I had a good mail day yesterday. I got the third issue of Grave Horticulture, one of my favorite ongoing comic concerns of the last few years (along with Golden Kamuy though I'm behind on that series). What Copra is to Suicide Squad, Grave Horticulture is to the old Midnight Sons line, but with an emphasis on the grotesque, and a sense of setting. Otherwise I've been reading Englehart's West Coast Avengers run. I think I want to like Englehart more than I actually like him but these are still amusing enough. Their juxtaposition of square superheroing and loads of adult neurosis reminds me of the comic David Boring's dad drew in David Boring.

The Scourge killing Titania in The Grapplers' locker room was the Marvel Universe's equivalent of Bruiser Brody's death.

Ha, I never noticed the Savage Tales publishing gap before. There used to be a video on youtube of Moench claiming that events he wrote for Planet of the Apes stories began to leak into the real world including a prediction of someone breaking into his home. He's a wacky guy.

Well you're in luck because it ran for eleven issues including Smith's adaptation of Red Nails in numbers 2 & 3! Though I prefer the way Red Nails looked in color in the Marvel Treasury Edition. BWS always looked better when he had a hand in the coloring process. In general I'm quite fond of the various 70s black & white comics magazines. I think a lot of the Buscema stuff from Savage Sword of Conan gets a bit samey but reading a random issue when I come across one it is still clearly at a higher level than most Marvel and DC comics from that time. There's a great Alex Niño story in an issue of Savage Sword of Conan that's also worth checking out. I like some work from a few other Marvel black & white mags, specifically Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Bizarre Adventures, and Vampire Tales. Sutton, Gulacy, and Rogers were great at using texture in monochrome. The Rogers/Claremont Daughters of the Dragon stories were amusing exploitation comics, clearly influenced by stuff like Ms. 45 and I Spit on Your Grave but with a little Russ Meyer. The Warren magazines have some lows, especially later in the 70s, but the best work (anything by Richard Corben, Night of the Jackass, the occasional Ditko, Toth, or Grandenetti story) are the best comics in that North American horror tradition.

Not the answer to these questions by any means but I'm always fascinated by how Maeda, who had a fair reputation as uncooperative, became top star of the second UWF and put over Takada and Funaki over the course of two years.

I've heard that's the case before, and that it specifically lead to a Monster Society of Evil book getting scrapped. That's also why something closer to the presentation IDW gives newspaper comics would be appropriate.

If we're being honest, just about everybody in comic books did it because they couldn't get a better gig until sometime in the 1970s. Folks we think of as geniuses like Kirby made a stab at newspaper comics and failed (mainly due to shrinking space for adventure strips and newspaper editors not comprehending his work). Which isn't to say that none of them liked comic books, just a statement about economic reality. Even the first generation of fans turned artists in the late 60s/early 70s had a mass exodus into commercial illustration and animation when DC squashed their attempts at unionization.

While I am under the impression that most of these golden age comics are awful or don't hold up, I think that the way superhero publishers indulge fannish instincts when selecting reprints makes it worse. They frequently focus on the first appearances and the earliest stories but that material is also the most raw. I read a lot of that kind of material when DC printed those Millennium Editions 20 years ago so I was shocked when I saw scans of some mid 40s Justice Society stories. It seems DC went on to develop a pretty tight house style in the mid to late 40s that combined big foot cartooning with influences from contemporary adventure strips (Caniff, Crane, Gould, etc). This is the territory early Kubert and Toth would explore. I'm convinced there is some merit to be found in this work but I hate reading comics on a screen so I'm doomed to speculation. I've read some post-Timely golden age Kirby and that material also seems worth exploring. One of my all time favorite Kirby stories is a Newsboy Legion story reprinted in one of those 70s 100 page super spectaculars. It's about the Legion trying to sell war bonds to a pair of recluses clearly based upon infamous NY based hoarders the Collyer brothers. There is a sort of mythologized vision of Kirby's childhood neighborhood at play in that story. It's fascinating stuff and reminds me of some of Kirby's later more personal stories like Delilah from Boy's Ranch. While I'm rambling about this material let me also say that even though the first few years of Batman comics are unreadable, I have become a big fan of Dick Sprang (what a name). Sprang shows up in 1943 and right away he's Kane's best ghost artist. He even shows up fully formed with his trademark grotesque caricatures, architecturally elaborate setpieces, and a love of diagrams/maps. If you want to see Sprang at his best DC released a pair of trades titled World's Finest - The Silver Age and they are really lovely to look at.

I mean license it to another publisher like how Disney licensed the Duck comics to Fantagraphics for their curated Carl Barks library, preferably a publisher who specializes in archival reprints like Fanta or IDW.

I can't stop laughing at the idea of them splitting up a giant candy bar and distributing it around the arena.

My dream is for DC to license the Fawcett Captain Marvel comics for curated reprints in a format similar to Fantagraphics' Carl Barks stuff. Never going to happen but it'd be nice.

What Hex have you been reading? I l think Death of the Bounty Hunter is a top ten best DC story of all time. I read a chunk of Sandman Mystery Theatre last week. I'm unsure how I feel about the introduction of other golden age DC characters once the series reached it's third year. The Hourman story was really fun and this interpretation of that character was intriguing. I thought The Mist with it's light science fiction elements were a bit clumsy. Phantom of the Fair was better. I'm a sucker for NY World's Fair stories and Guy Davis is great at the sense of place required to immerse you in a setting. 90s Guy Davis was like an alternate universe Ben Katchor who also drew adventure stories. The cameos in The Phantom (Jim Corrigan, The Crimson Avenger) were messy but that made them more charming than the cute shit in The Mist. The Blackhawk story was good though I missed Davis' art. This reminds me that even though I didn't enjoy the Chaykin reinvention of Blackhawk that I would like to pick up the ongoing by Burchett, Pasko, and Moench, mostly because I'm turning into a Moench completist as I get older. Eternaut 1969 was an intriguing supplement to the original but in no way necessary. Perramus is one of the most attractive looking comics I've ever seen. Every other page made me stop and stare instead of reading. Still, I feel let down by the story and it's satire. Maybe my standards were too high. I'll probably revisit this down the line and attempt to appreciate what it is instead is what I'd like it to be.

When it comes to superheroes, especially Marvel superheroes, I prefer the 80s. Feels like a time period where art, writing, and the editorial end were more consistently on the same page. 70s Marvel is very messy which can lead to some surprising and great stuff but it's bad for staying consistent. I probably prefer DC in the 70s but it's a bad era for their superheroes. The best DC comics of the 70s other than Kirby's series are Niño on Captain Fear, Death of a Bountyhunter from the Jonah Hex Spectacular, some of the pulp hero revival stuff drawn by Kaluta and Robbins, random Toth and Heath appearances in the war titles, and the emergence of the Filipino artists in the horror titles.

I'mkind of blasé towards Starlin. I don't think his cosmic stuff is bad by any means, just that I prefer my druggy scifi comics with more baroque visual spectacle like Lone Sloane or Dope Rider. I realize that within the realm of monthly comics deadlines and especially at 1970s Marvel that just wasn't going to happen. That said, I really liked the handful of Master of Kung Fu issues that feature his art. Are there any more examples of Starlin drawing this kind of physical street level action? A big reason I haven't been posting much in the last few years is how hard it is to balance watching wrestling vs reading comics when I have some free time. Comics win out most of the time.

I was tired of twitter and really missed being on a message board. It's been nice to stop in here the last few months when I was tired of reading news during my breaks from work. It's helped to get me excited about watching wrestling again. I watched the 1999 yearbook last year and just started 1998. An old friend who I don't think posts here is going to start synching up with me so we can watch the 80s Puerto Rico DVDVR set every week. I'm excited about watching wrestling again and maybe I'll even start posting on message boards again. I'm just trying to say that I'm glad boards like this are still around. Merry Christmas everybody.

OJ, I'm also a bit of a Steve Gerber agnostic but I really like his Marvel Two-In-One run. It's very brief but I'd probably call them my favorite post Kirby Fantastic Four run. I love Barry Windsor-Smith. The Conan run is a mixed bag as he's really finding himself throughout it. The Red Nails adaptation is the peak though. I have the Treasury edition with that and Rogues in the House. That was my dad's favorite comic. Just got Perramus and Eternaut 1969 for Christmas. I don't know if any of you have been checking them out but I've really been enjoying Fantagraphics' Argentinian comics reprints. The original Eternaut was great but this 1969 reboot with Breccia on art is an intriguing proposition, mostly because it's Breccia. The same team did Mort Cinder which got an English translation not too long ago. I also pulled my Eerie Presents Richard Corben book off the shelf since hearing he'd passed away. I've been reading one story every night before bed. Corben is one of my comic book pillars along with Otomo, Chester Brown, and Basil Wolverton.

The 1/22 title match is on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN3_U4SA9dU

I think what Loss describes is the January 15th trios. According to cubsfan 1/22 has the rudos winning a title match 1/15 has the tecnicos winning a brawl.

Basically, if you donate $25 or more to the Hispanic Foundation's UNIDO Disaster Relief Fund I will draw you a wrestler with a notable run in Puerto Rico. Every drawing will be 9x12, with a color scheme of black, white, and one other color of your choice. Okay, so here’s what to do: 1.) Donate $25 or more to The Hispanic Federation 2.) Email me a copy of the receipt. My email is TheAnthonyStock at gmail dot com 3.) In the email, tell me what wrestler you want and what color you want. Sorry, just one color. I may end up having to make a lot of these. 4.) Remember to tell me your address. Where am I sending this drawing? 5.) Wait for the drawing to arrive. It may take a while (I do have a full time job) but I’ll get to it. I promise. 6.) Display the art with pride. By donating you made a difference, even if it was only $25. We do what we can. Feel free to share this with anybody you think would be interested. Thanks for helping! Here's the link for the Hispanic Foundation: https://hispanicfederation.org/unidos/ Here's the link to my tumblr post about this, including pictures I drew of Abdullah the Butcher and Carlos Colon: https://theanthonystock.tumblr.com/post/166059840641/donate-to-disaster-relief-in-pr-get-drawings-of If you donate, I really appreciate it. Feel free to share my tumblr link with anybody else you think might be interested.

Two discs in I think this is second to only Embry vs Invader I and closely followed by the scaffold match and Abdullah vs Victor Jovica. Unsurprisingly, the stipulation matches are really killing it in Puerto Rico. Before I watched this kind of pre-1990 wrestling, I would see pictures of Brody and Abdullah in wrestling magazines and online. My friends and I would speculate what those violent matches must have looked like. The reality of Brody in All Japan shattered that vision. This match however, actually looks like that speculation. I guess I'm a little surprised that this hasn't been more lauded but I guess this kind of straight ahead deathmatch stuff is seen as sort of gauche. I prefer this sort of gritty brawl to modern high concept deathmatch strangeness. The barbed wire is the only weapon and it's used effectively throughout the match. It being raked over Colon's mouth is the grossest highlight. But really, the whole thing is gross.

I wasn't in love with it but it was straightforward and entertaining and I suppose it acts as a good introduction to the set. The thing I liked the most was the different ways Colon and Abdullah sold each other's strikes. Colon could control Abby with extended barrages of strikes but it would one take Abdullah one throat thrust to knock Colon off his feet. I'm definitely curious to see what their other matches are like.

It feels very appropriate that Jack Kirby and El Santo are both celebrating their centennials next year.

I've been slowly drifting away from wrestling for a while now but I'm trying to get myself hyped for the new 80s sets. Current favorite wrestler to watch: Last fun match you saw: Last fun interview/promo you saw: Most fun you've had watching wrestling lately: I'm lumping all four of these together. The only match I've watched recently is The Final Deletion which was delightful. Around the time I watched this a few weeks ago there was some weird drama in my family about my brother so now whenever my best friend and I talk about my family we can't stop calling him BROTHER NERO. It lead to a stream of texts from my buddy fantasy booking my family including Willow being unmasked as my mom and my dad getting caught watching porn on Vanguard 1. I haven't devoted much time to wrestling lately but I've gotta say that it's those damned Hardys that have been on my mind. (My family is fine by the way, my brother is just... an enigma). Wrestler you want to see more of: I'm really excited about the Puerto Rico set (I have to wait just a little bit to order it) and specifically I want to see some Carlos Colon defending his turf in Last live show attended: I actually went to last year's NXT Takeover in Brooklyn. It was fun but I've realized that I prefer to see wrestling in an intimate atmosphere to those big arena shows. My friends have been going to a lot of local indy shows lately so I'll probably join them sooner or later. Match you're most looking forward to watching: I've been holding off on the Colon/Hansen feud for a while. It sounds awesome. Last interesting thing you read about wrestling: Segunda Caida tackling 2002 Zero-One EDIT: I just saw the immortal Abhay Khosla's tumblr post about drama on the set of the Rock's new movie and it also feels appropriate for this spot; http://twiststreet.tumblr.com/post/148702893775 Favorite recent post on this board: I'm digging OJ writing about golden age wrestlers. I watched a bunch of that Chicago Film Archives stuff when it was first uploaded and he's got me wanting to dive in again. Favorite thing about the wrestling landscape in the past three months (if you live in the past, then go with your past three months of time-traveling): My friends always used to see me as the "guy who watches foreign stuff and indy wrestling" but now they're all following various independent promotions.

Yeah, that was me voting for Los Bucaneros at number 2. I wonder who the other two voters were.