Rank and File: Best Buddies in Comics...

Redartz:  Greetings, friends! Or should I say 'buddies'?  Perhaps so, because today we are considering the best pals in comicdom. I've chosen three pairs, one from each of three companies (yes, I'm a bit obsessive/compulsive). But that leaves you all free to come up with other famous four-color friendships...

Representing Marvel: who else but Spider-Man and the Human Torch?  Almost from his first appearance, Spidey had a love/hate relationship with Johnny Storm. And of course, Johnny was responsible for helping devise the Spider-Mobile. A friend, indeed...

 












From DC: Green Lantern and Green Arrow, aka the 'Hal and Ollie' show. Speaking of love/hate relationships, Hal and Ollie seem to bicker over the years perhaps more than they pal around. Personality conficts, I guess...

And from Archie: Obviously, Archie and Jughead! Definitely more in tune with each other than Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen, Archie Andrews and Forsyte Jones have personified friendship for many decades...

 















Those are the first that came to my mind. How many more can you come up with?

Chew the Fat: Right on the Tip of My Mind...

Redartz:  Greetings, all! Today we're doing something a little different, and your help is needed. Allow me to explain:

Have you ever tried to remember something that was 'right on the tip of your mind', so to speak? Many of the subjects we discuss here are things we recall both fondly and vividly. Comics, tv, films, music, toys, all manner of esoterica; almost anything we can remember is fair game at BitBA. One nice side effect of our discussions is that it triggers memories that we may have forgotten. Someone's comment might suddenly cause us to remember a long-forgotten book , or a commercial that has languished in our sub-memory for decades. This is my goal for our discussion today.

I have an example for you, one that inspired this post today. I'll share it, and perhaps someone among you might be able to reveal the 'missing pieces' of this memory. And then you can bring up any half-memories that you'd like to complete, and maybe we can all help each other out. 

My faded memory is as follows: 
Years ago, when I was about 9 (this would have been about 1970), I read many books; especially adventures and mysteries starring kids. You know, Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, and many other such books of less reknown. Therein lies my difficulty. There was a story that included a specific phrase which has stuck in my mind ever since. I believe the story was about a boy visiting a relative and finding mysteries. The phrase: "...I could see the lights of Connecticut across Long Island Sound". 
 Allow me to explain a moment. For many of you, that phrase may seem pretty unremarkable. But I was a shy kid, living in the flat farmlands of Indiana, surrounded by  pretty ordinary scenery. I had traveled very little, but had visited many places via the books and comics I loved. Among the locales  I dreamed of most was the New York area- prompted no doubt by all those  Marvels. Even the place names seemed a bit magical to me: Manhattan, Long Island, Connecticut, Yonkers. Although I don't recall anything else about the story, I remember that boy gazing out alone across the night-darkened waters towards faroff lights, and imagining what lie beyond. That boy could have been me. A bit naive, I know. But that mental image really stuck with me, even up to today. That brief passage perfectly evokes my youthful (and still active) longing for new horizons. I still have never been anywhere near New York, but I still hope to. And when  I go, I hope also to find an opportunity to take a nighttime excursion to Long Island, and to look for the lights of Connecticut across the Sound. 

Sorry for taking so long to get to the point. My question, and I realize this is very very little to go on:  does anyone recognize that story or book? I'd love to find out what that line came from. If nothing else, I finally got to pull that phrase from my head and send it out into digital space. 

Now, even if you've no clue as to the identity of that book, you have a chance to pin down your borderline memories. Is there a comic you half remember, a book you loved but can't remember the name of? Perhaps there is a song whose lyric you know, but not the title. Again, it's all fair game today. Let's see if we can solve a few mutual mysteries. Thanks for participating, and thanks for  your patience as I wax personal today...

Follow the Leader: Episode 66: Magazines!

Martinex1: Nothing to say... except take it away!  Follow the Leader is up again today!

Chew the Fat: Evolution of Characters!

Martinex1: Recently, I have been pondering the way some comic characters evolve and the way others seem fully formed from the first time they appear.  Take a look at some of these pictures and I think you will see what I mean.   The art or style may fit the times, but in some cases the characters are virtually untouched while others have significant modifications to design, motives, physical traits and even personality.

BLACK WIDOW: 

SUPERMAN:

WASP:

GREEN LANTERN:

IRON MAN:

AUNT MAY:

CAPTAIN AMERICA:

What makes some characters work right from the start?   Are icons born fully fledged?  Do the different companies respect the genesis of their characters more than others?  Are female characters treated differently than their male counterparts, or have they evolved to reflect the decades of change in our own culture? What about age - does that come into play?   Do some characters need a boost in complexity?   What would cause a total revamp of costume and design?  Who do you think has stayed most true to their original core character over the decades?  And what character do you think evolved the most? 

Don't limit the conversation to the heroes depicted.   Who do you think is worth discussing in this context... the Flash, Cyclops, Reed Richards, Batman, Alfred, or Plastic Man?   Why do some characters work no matter what the era?  Why do others need to change?  What characters dropped from the popular heights because adjustments were not made? 

So much to consider and discuss today at BitBA, so consider the options and open the conversation!  Cheers!

Short Cuts: School Lunchtime...

Redartz:  One of everyone's favorite hours at school was, of course, lunch hour. A chance to refresh, visit with friends, trade ballcards, discuss television shows, and so much more. Today let's remember what made those hours (or half hours, if such was the case) so memorable. 

 

I never ate the 'school lunch', my mom always packed mine. And it always included some favorites, such as pbj (peanut butter and jelly, for those unfamiliar), Indian Corn Chips, a Pop-Tart, a cookie or any number of other treats. One particular favorite was "Space Food Sticks", a snack from Pillsbury advertised as astronaut fare. I don't know if the Apollo crews ever ate them, but I sure did.


Martinex1:  Hi Red. I just had to jump in on this topic.  My school did not have a cafeteria, so we always had to bag it.  Typically, I had a lunchmeat sandwich and an apple or banana.  Once in a while, my mom would pop popcorn and put it in my lunch.  I could trade that popcorn for almost anything... it was lunchtime gold!

And of course, my lunches came packed in a cool lunchbox, my most fondly recalled one was this Hot Wheels number. Only problem was that the Thermos bottles always seemed to leak.It made a convenient spot to store my trading cards, though...

That is pretty cool. My lunchbox looked like something Ralph Kramden from "The Honeymooners" would carry.  Just a metal box with a curved top.   I envied all of the Six Million Dollar Man, Emergency!, and Scooby-Doo boxes others had.  I always wanted a thermos too.

Our elementary school lunches were held in what they called the "multipurpose room" , a combination gym, lunchroom and auditorium. It was usually packed with kids, at least for the first fifteen minutes. I, like many others, tried to hurry through the eating part in order to have some free time outside (the school playground was just outside the door). It was easy to burn off some energy on the swings or monkey bars...

We had to eat at our desks.  They would bring in little cartons of milk to go with our lunch.  Every so often there was a mix-up and we would get chocolate milk.  The way we reacted you would think we won the lottery.  When I was in first grade, a kid broke his arm in the playground so they dismantled all of the park equipment. Back then, there were just swings, slides, and dangerous metal spinning things on a concrete lot - not a good recipe for the modern safety conscious crowd. 

I just remembered that once per semester, we would have "Hot Dog Day" and the school would prepare hot dogs, a bag of Jays potato chips, and some kind of Hostess cake.  That was like a gift from the gods after weeks of bologna and chicken loaf!

 Okay, we've spilled the contents of our bags. What were your lunchbox contents? Did you have the 'hot lunch', or brown bag it? How else did you spend your recess time? Pull up a seat and share!

Rank and File: The Year's Best Comic Stories, 1979!

Redartz:  Hello all; that time again: time to pick a year's worth of top comics. In this instance, we look at the year 1979. As always, the choices are tough to make; and some you may well disagree with. And of course it's subjective, especially to the extent that I haven't read every comic put out in any given year, so my choices are limited to those with which I'm familiar. Aaaaanyway, a couple other caveats for this episode: I try to spread the choices around, so for instance X-Men is represented with an annual, but not by a monthly book this go-round (and obviously, any Claremont/Byrne X-Men issue is prime fodder for a best-of list). Also, I didn't follow as much DC at that point in time, so the tally is Marvel-heavy. 

All that said, let's get to the picks. As always, the books chosen were published within calendar year 1979. Check out my choices, compare them to your picks, and tell me where I erred!

In no particular order:

 



Avengers 184- " Death on the Hudson", by David Michelinie, John Byrne and "diverse hands'. Great conclusion to an epic Absorbing Man battle, a provocative climax, great characterization, fine art; the whole works.











 


Amazing Spider-Man 195- "Nine Lives has the Black Cat", by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard and "diverse hands" (hey, who were those guys- everyone inking by committee in 1979?). Loads of classic Spidey drama, the poignant intro to Felicia Hardy, and Pete just getting his lumps.....
 











 



Cerebus the Aardvark 10- "Merchant of Unshib", by Dave Sim. The earthpig was rapidly becoming a favorite of mine by this issue, with the return of "Red Sophia"...
















 Marvel Premiere 50- " From the Inside", by Alice Cooper,Jim Salicrup, Roger Stern, Ed Hannigan,  Tom Sutton and Terry Austin. Wonderfully strange story, with loads to absorb both mentally and visually.














 Adventure Comics 467- "Carlton Canary" by Len Wein, Joe Staton and Bob Smith, and "First Encounter", by Paul Levitz, Steve Ditko and Romeo Tanghal. A twofer; two great features sharing a wonderful (and underappreciated) title. Just plain fun, solid comics.















 X-Men Annual 3- "A Fire in the Sky", by Chris Claremont, George Perez and Terry Austin. A fantastic done-in-one, one of the best annuals ever. One reason why annuals were a highlight of the comic year.












 



Batman 321- "Dreadful Birthday, Dear Joker", by Len  Wein, Walter Simonson and Dick Giordano. A cool Joker tale with some top notch art ; how can you miss with that lineup?











 


Daredevil 163- "Blind Alley", by Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Josef Rubinstein. A phenomenal, gut-wrenching story of persistance and self sacrifice. One of the Hulk's finest guest appearances, and a Daredevil tale to rival the classic issue 7.











 



Micronauts 7- "Adventure into Fear", by Bill  Mantlo, Michael Golden and Josef Rubinstein. The Micro's team was really hitting it's stride by this issue, a fine tale with comedy, drama and Man-thing meeting a swamp buggy. Plus a beautiful cover!











 



Iron Man 128- "Demon in a Bottle", by David Michiline, John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton. A truly classic story of one man's battle with his personal demons.













Well, there you have them. Ten of the best from the tail end of the 1970's. What do you think; did this list cover the best, or did I miss some obvious betters? Put on your critical caps and fire away!