Chew the Fat: Company-Jumping Characters!

Redartz:  Every comic company has its iconic, trademark characters. What would Marvel be without the ever-amazing Spider-man? Or DC without Batman?  Archie Comics have, well, Archie. Disney and the ducks go hand-in-wing. You get the idea; many characters are intimately identified with their parent company, and many of those companies go to great lengths to keep those characters close.

However, over the years, numerous characters have started their print careers under one company, only to make a switch to a competing company later on. Whether due to a copyright battle, a corporate buyout, or changes in licensing, many notable characters have seen publication under more than one banner. This makes it challenging for the collector, and probably a headache for Bob Overstreet; but that's the comic biz. Let's look at some of these 'company jumpers'...


Captain Marvel

 


















"The Big Red Cheese" moved from Fawcett to DC years after legal wrangling in which DC claimed the character violated their copyright on Superman. One wonders how Marvel would have liked to get their hands on the Captain; they put the name to use at any rate.


Tarzan

Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan" appeared for years under the Dell label, and then under Western's Gold Key. DC got the rights, and continued Gold Key's numbering. Marvel took over in the later 70's with a new first issue, and art by ace John Buscema.


Conan the Barbarian

 


 















 Marvel won rights to Robert E. Howard's barbarian, and presented his adventures in various formats from the 70's through the 90's. The new Millenium saw Dark Horse Comics publishing Conan, until recently Marvel regained the rights. Although a licensed character, I'll always associate Conan with Marvel...

 
Yogi Bear

 Hanna Barbera's famous picnic basket thief seems to have made the rounds of comic companies as thoroughly as he did the picnic tables. Gold Key, Charlton, Marvel, Harvey and even Archie Comics! How did DC miss out (although I could be unaware of just that eventuality: DC has access to Hanna Barbera's retinue, and have been making great use of them the last few years).


 
Jonny Quest

One lonely issue from Gold Key was all you could find of the iconic boy adventurer for many years, until in 1986 Comico began it's fine run. In the 90's Dark Horse picked up the franchise with the "New Adventures".
 
Darth Vader

 


 















 Marvel struck gold by getting the rights to "Star Wars" putting out the first issue before the film opened. The House of Ideas kept it up for years, through the mid 80's. But Dark Horse picked up the ball  (or Death Star, if you prefer) and ran with it beginning in the 90's. Yet once again, Marvel recently re-acquired the rights and is putting out numerous series once again.


Blue Beetle

 













 Blue Beetle debuted at Charlton in the 60's, by the great Steve Ditko. In the 70's Modern Comics reprinted some of  his Charlton appearances. Not long afterwards, DC bought out Charlton's stable of heroes (as they had with the Quality characters), and made the Beetle a part of the great Justice League International series.


Popeye

 


















 The immortal Sailor Man, like Tarzan, has been published for many decades under many banners. Gold Key and Charlton featured him through the 60's and 70's. In the late 80's, Harvey put out some issues (what was up with Harvey back then, anyway- not just Casper and Richie Rich anymore). Most recently IDW has been putting out some fine stories...

There you have a few examples of 'wanderers' among the various comics publishers. No doubt you can come up with more. And of these pictured here, who do you feel did the 'best job' with a given character? Which characters do you identify with which publishers? Go ahead and 'chew the fat'...

The Quarter Bin: Let it Snow!

Martinex1:  Well, here we are headed into the holiday season and the cold weather has definitely settled into the great Midwest.   We haven't received as much snow as some other northern locales, so I went digging in the Quarter Bin for the snowy covers that make up today's selection.

Last year we looked for issues with Santa Claus on the cover and this year I merely looked for examples with snow falling or with snowy locales.

When I ventured into the research, I thought this would be an easy one to put together but I found it much more challenging than I expected. Archie had its fair share of covers with characters battling through wintry weather. Richie Rich carried the day, as the little rich boy seemed to enjoy the wet stuff as much as he enjoys greenbacks. Yogi Bear also had a fair amount of snowy covers from Dell.  But DC and Marvel had relatively slim snowy pickings (I must be missing something significant) and I was expecting a blizzard.

It is time to pick your favorites and share your thoughts. If you have favorites not pictured here, please call them out and share, share, share this time of year.

Put on your hats and mittens and come on out and make your four choices for this round of the Quarter Bin!