Anthony Cardno

Grab a copy before the sale ends! And thank you! 🧀

Resharing to note that there’s only 11 days left in this Kickstarter and they have a long way to go, so if you’re interested, sign up soon!

“representing a vast spectrum of what it *means* to be Muslim based on our wide array of lived experiences and cultural backgrounds.”

Girls mature faster than boys; so tell your boys to look to them for leadership - and trust them to be strong.

I could not recall Hammer ever appearing again but the Interwebz tells me he did, notably in John Ostrander's Blaze of Glory: The Last Ride of the Western Heroes mini from 2000. Which begs the question: given my love of John Ostrander's work: how in the blazing saddles did I miss this miniseries?

Gene Day's art is just gorgeous throughout, evoking the time period and the landscape of Montana equally as well as showing the characters' emotions. On the first few pages, Hammer looks a lot like Clint Eastwood.

Hammer is unlike most Marvel western characters. No mask, no secret identity, and no guns (despite the cover). He's got a complex backstory revealed in flashbacks.

The story would have made a great movie / TV pilot, as Hammer tracks down a pair of veterans on a killing spree. The end is very dark.

Hand holding a copy of Marvel Premiere Issue 54: The Coming of Caleb Hammer. Beneath the logo is a full body shot of Caleb Hammer firing a gun he's just quick-drawn from the holster on his hip at an unseen enemy. Hammer wears a wide-brimmed Stetson-style brown hat, a red neck scarf, blue denim longcoat and jeans, and brown cowboy boots. The background is Hammer's face in greytone, lighting a cigarette.

Today's Random Comic Book Back Issue Reread: Marvel Premiere 54 (1980) : The Coming of Caleb Hammer Writer: Peter B. Gillis Art: Gene Day & Tony DeZuniga Letters: John Costanza Colors: Ben Sean Editor: Jim Salicrup.

Another dollar box find. I remember owning it but had no memory of the story.

Dick Dillin's JSA are all great, especially his Starman & Black Canary. The fight scenes are his usual high quality. The only thing I don't like artwise is Aquarius, who just looks like Dillin couldn't figure out how to sell whatever O'Neil's "sentient star matter".

Man, did Red Tornado get disrespected by both teams! Earth Two Superman is condescending; and despite RT rescuing them at the end of the previous issue, the JLA made him sit around for TWO weeks before they let him tell them why he's there???

I get a kick out of the "council of sentient stars sentences one of their number to being a shapeless wandering cloud" set-up, and how O'Neil never tells us what Aquarius's "heinous crimes" were. I also wonder if this was the first time a villain was diagnosed as manic-depressive in a DC story.

I've only ever read this one in reprint form so was excited to find a cheap reader copy today.

I love that Kubert cover, even it is not at all representative of the actual story. (And even though Black Canary is missing from it.)

Hand holding a copy of Justice League of America Issue 73. Below the logo, a small redheaded boy Tears a lamp post out of the ground while announcing "Super-Heroes! Big deal! I can do as good as any of you -- even better!" Ehind him, the Justice Society stands dejected. From left to right: Superman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Green Lantern, Starman, Wonder Woman.

Yesterday's Random Comic Book Back Issue Reread: Justice League of America 73 (1969) Cover: Joe Kubert Writer: Denny O'Neil Art: Dick Fillin & Sid Greene. The 1st half of the JLA/JSA story that killed Larry Lance and led to Black Canary moving from Earth One to Earth Two.

The issue also included a Golden Age Sub-Mariner tale by Namor's creator Bill Everett that explained Namor's change from anti-all-surface-dwellers to just anti-Nazi, to illustrate Roy's point.

The text page discusses Roy Thomas's determination that the book would not be strictly beholden to stories published during the Golden Age unless an Invaders issue explicitly referenced it. He would take a very different approach on the similarly-themed All-Star Squadron at DC a few years later.

But something about this issue, combination of characters, deep sense of history, and the unique look of Frank Robbins' art compared to most of the other comics I was reading at 9 years old, pulled me in and never let me go. They remain my favorite Marvel super-team.

As a kid, I wasn't really a history buff. My main connection to World War Two was that my great-uncle Ralph died on the beaches on D-Day (and my sister, had she been a boy, would have been named for him).

Hand holding a copy of Giant-Size Invaders Issue 1. Under the logo, the team runs towards the reader and a giant machine gun nest. Left to right: The Himan Torch, Toronto, Captain America, Lucky, The Sub-Mariner. Beneath their feet, a map of western Europe covered by a giant swastika.

Today's Random Comic Book Back Issue Reread: Giant-Size Invaders 1 (1975). Cover: Frank Robbins & John Romita Writer: Roy Thomas Art: Robbins & Vince Colletta Colors: Petra Goldberg Letters: John Costanza. Another of my prized issues that like the entire Invaders run, has never left my collection.

I'm one of the proofreaders for Lightspees. Every time I see a Cookbook of the Gods story in the Table of Contents, I get excited.

I can do this all day, haha

@oluwasigma.bsky.social
@lucyasnyder.bsky.social
@stephenking.bsky.social
Stephen Graham Jones

I could name way more than 3 because I am a short story fanatic. But let's go with

@seananmcguire.bsky.social
@bethcato.bsky.social
@jeffreyricker.bsky.social
I can't do just three...
@mauricebroaddus.bsky.social

Somebody in the ad department was on the ball when they put a "Number Two" themed February house ad (2nd issues of Jonah Hex and Black Lightning) right after the Two-Face tale.

Not sure how long any of these stories stayed in continuity or if they were ever acknowledged again.

Kupperberg's Dr. Light tale is so Silver Age: a human crosses space to steal alien tech. The perfect origin for a bumbler like Dr. Light; of course he isn't smart enough to create his own tech! The art makes me wonder why Arthur Light looks like Uncle Sam's less-patriotically-dressed brother.

The Two-Face story does what retroactive continuity should do: adding layers to a story we already know. A younger cop as the real target of Boss Moroni's acid doesn't negate anything we already knew about Harvey Dent and makes his origin that much more tragic. Love the moody art on this one.

Not sure who decided a hidden city of super-smart gorillas couldn't have evolved and needed a "more realistic" origin. But that's what we get here: Gorilla City is revealed to be only recently transplanted to Earth by Green Lantern who then has his memory wiped. The Buckler-Layton art is great.

Hand holding a copy of DC Special Issue 14: Secret Origins of Super-Villains. Under the logo, Two-Face, in a half-red, half-brown 70s leisure suit and white turtleneck sweater, flips his coin. Around him are smaller images: Gorilla Grodd on the upper left aims a brain-blast at Green Lantern on the lower right; Dr Light on the upper right shoots a beam of hard light at Hawkman on the lower left.

Today's Random Comic Book Back Issue Reread: DC Special 14, 1977. Cover/ToC: Aparo. Grodd: Writer: Rozakis, Art: Buckler & Layton Colors: Tollin Letters: Morse. Two-Face: Writer: Harris Art: Davis & Rubinstein Colors: Wood Dr. Light: Writer: Kupperberg Art: Ayers & Abel. Text pieces: Uncredited.

To say these 4 issues are among my most prized would be an understatement. They have never left my collection. I really need to remember to bring them to Pulpfest this year and ask Mark to sign them.

I ask the universe again: PLEASE give this book the hardcover deluxe treatment it deserves!

Hempel's layouts heighten the anxiety the reader is experiencing with many pages of crowded panels of closeups, which give the full page spreads that much more impact. I find myself just lingering over pages no matter how many times I reread this. Wheatley's inks enhance the brilliance. Great team.

Part prequel to Dracula, part rumination on who Jack really was. Shanklin & Wheatley's script and dialogue are (yeah, I'll say it again) perfect. There are lots of Dracula/Ripper tales out there. This is my favorite.

Two great Victorian monsters (1 supernatural, 1 all too human) circle each other in Whitechapel, 1888. Throw in royal politics, sensational journalism, cover-ups, a little bit of romance, and the first (I believe) weekly release schedule for a comic in the US ... a perfect blend, perfectly paced.

Cover of Blood of the Innocent Issue 1. Banner across the top pronounces "Weekly Mini-Series 1 of 4" Under rhe logo, Jack the Ripper in brown suit and cap (flying off his head) clings to Dracula's back holding a knife high. Dracula is in a black tuxedo and red-lined cape with a large medallion on his chest. They are surrounded by fog. London rooftops and chimneys are visible in the background. Blood surrounds, and drips down from, the logo over the scene.

Who says Today's Random Comic Book Back Issue Reread has to be just 1 issue? Sometimes, you gotta just read all 4! 1986's Blood of the Innocent. Writers: Rickey Shanklin & Mark Wheatley Art: Marc Hempel & Mark Wheatley Colors: Wheatley & Kathryn Mayer. Letters: Kathryn Mayer. Editor: Richard Pini.