Due to an urgent call from the State of Illinois, I have been at Jury Duty all day. Without a way to get my hands on this week’s new books, I’m going Flashback style and pay a visit to the super secret archives of Comic History hidden somewhere behind the heads on Mt. Rushmore.
aising money
Female Force Olivia Newton-John BLUE WATER COMICS
With October right around the corner, lets set the Wayback for October of 2010. When a little comic company called BlueWater was having some success highlighting famous women. As a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness, BlueWater featured the story of Cancer Survivor, Olivia Newton-John. Aside from being a great idea, the story of Olivia Newton-John is really quite fascinating. An interesting biography in graphic novel form and raising money for a good cause, sounds like a win-win. Plus, it’s not the first time Miss Newton-John showed up in comics. Who remembers the Marvel Super Special Magazine adaptation of Xanadu?! I give it a 10 out of 10!
Spidey Super Stories #45 MARVEL COMICS
Spider-Man teaming up with PBS’s Electric Company television show? Yes! Back in the mid to late 1970’s Marvel Comics and classic PBS children’s show the Electric Company had a wonderful relationship. Spidey made regular visits to the live action television show which also featured celebrities Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Mel Brooks, and Zero Mostel. and cameos that will amaze anyone. The flip side is that Marvel produced this title for younger readers. Aside from Spidey and the cast, each issue featured team-ups with the best and brightest from the Marvel Universe. This issue is a classic as the Silver Surfer comes to Earth to help Spidey battle the evil of Doctor Doom. A simplistic story that anyone can enjoy, corny humor, along with brief origin pages on all the guests make for an excellent title! I give it a 10 out of 10!
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #166 Claypool Comics
Say what?! #166? Am I telling you that there was once an Elvira comic series that lasted 166 issues? You bet your sweet bippy, I am! And what’s even more interesting is that it deserved 166 issue if not more. The good folks at Claypool Comics started up the black and white adventures of everyone’s favorite femme fatale in 1993. All the issues (and 2 Trade Paperbacks!) had photo covers and were written, drawn, inked, and lettered by some of the biggest names in comics at the time. People like Ronn Sutton, Hilary Barta, Janet Hetherington, Jim Mooney, and the list goes on! The best part is that the storylines were a combination of Mad magazine parodies meets the concept of what we all imagined after the cameras turned off on her television show. I remember the last few issues as we were given a cover countdown as to how many issues we had left. A definite hoot of a book and definitely worth tracking down in back issues bins world wide! I give it a 10 out of 10!
