Chris Kemple

You and a million others, me included!

Fradon holding a copy of a Metamorpho collection she had just signed for me at a convention.

A commission she did of Aquaman’s wedding and three comic books she did the covers and/or the interior art for: The Brave and the Bold #66, featuring Metamorpho and the Metal Men, Superfriends #28, and Plastic Man #19.

Today is the birthday of artist Ramona Fradon (Oct. 2, 1926-Feb. 24, 2024). Most known for cocreating Metamorpho and her work on Aquaman, Superfriends, Plastic Man, and the comic strip Brenda Starr, Reporter.

A photo of Raymond in uniform after he enlisted in the Marines during WWII.

A comic panel showing Flash Gordon sword fighting with Ming the Merciless.

Today is the birthday of cartoonist & illustrator Alex Raymond (Oct. 2, 1909-Sept. 6, 1956). He is most known as the creator of the comic strip Flash Gordon, but he also created or cocreated the comic strips Secret Agent X-9, Jungle Jim, and Rip Kirby.

Little Bruce Wayne goes to Sears Portrait Studio

Hop on! Are you a Jimmy or a Lois?

Amazing Spider-Man 123 cover - vs. Luke Cage

Amazing Spider-Man 124 cover - intro. Man-Wolf

Amazing Spider-Man 125 cover - vs. Man-Wolf

Just finished my goal of reading Amazing Spider-Man 111-125, with the last three issues pre-dinner. Nice run, and sets me up for the first clone saga whenever I get back in - which will be for 126-150.

Covers by John Romita and Tony Mortellaro.

Photo of cheap 1970’s Ben Cooper type kids’ Halloween costumes of TV show characters Laverne and Shirley. The masks look unintentionally creepy.

They’ll make all their dreams come true…and your nightmares too…

Photo shows a large, orange, plastic Halloween bucket on a house porch filled with bluish green liquid. Above the bucket is a sign that says “One slurp of Baja Blast per Trick or Treater”

Don’t be like all the other jerks by pouring the whole bucket in your bag and running away!

The Marvel Family #79 (1953). On the cover, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. make scary faces to scare off a real mummy.

Cover by C.C. Beck & Pete Costanza.

More vintage toy catalog fun

Run Grampa! Even Casper is scared!

Nothing current can beat the classic sensation of looking at toys in old Sears and JC Penny catalogs. The excitement of making out your Christmas and birthday list to these things was fun, pre-internet. And I still remember the smell of the pages.

Five stars on the cover, each with a headshot - Robin, Batgirl, Man-Bat, Huntress, and Batman in the center.

Michael William Kalita covered Batman Family 17 (1977).

Probably the best cover of this title, and there were a few contenders!

Batman’s gonna zap you with his Bat Nicotine Ray! Robin’s on the patch.

Jim Aparo wraparound cover, original inks and published colors

Aparo vs. Adams: it’s a draw!

Franken Mold-A-Rama Stein

Halloween is approaching

A splendid Mike Wieringo art tutorial from June 1997’s Wizard magazine, focusing entirely on approaches to depicting Spider-Man and Peter Parker.

Today is the birthday of cartoonist Walt Kelly (Aug. 25, 1913-Oct. 18, 1973), creator of the newspaper comic strip Pogo.

We’re all trapped in a Race Barrel.

Cracker Bannon!

Battle of the Planets was one that I coveted as a kid but never owned.

The flip sides!

Lunchboxes of my youth. There’s so many more I wanted but never got, but these were my cherished ones. The Ghostland box with the built in board game was so great.

Personally, nothing beats the classic embossed metal lunchboxes/thermoses with illustrated art on all sides, but the plastic ones hold some nostalgia too. I had Star Wars, Super Friends, and Marvel Super Heroes.