Originally published April 5, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1168
Finally, something from Whitewater that your average doofus (such as this writer) can understand.
I got a call from a source that I shall keep anonymous. I’ll simply call him by his fairly common, impossible to identify first name: Harlan. He phoned up and asked if I’d heard about the bizarreness in the selection of the Whitewater jury in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Originally published March 29, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1167
The last of the Marvel mainstays is gone.
In the first quarter of the year that lost us Jerry Siegel and Burne Hogarth, the loss of Jack Abel will probably leave a number of fans scratching their heads and shrugging. Jack Abel? Who he?
He was a Marvel mainstay, that’s who.
Originally published March 22, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1166
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we’re short on time this week. So, for a quickie, I’m running the following letter and illustration from Red Sonja creator Frank Thorne, whose Devil’s Angel is one of the comics named in the Oklahoma City debacle.
Originally published March 15, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1165
Planet Comics closed.
Well, the censors certainly showed them, didn’t they? They can add another notch to their belt. At a time in our industry when stores are closing because they can’t afford to keep their doors open due to “normal” sales drop-off, we now lose a store of long standing because well-organized monitors of what other people should be exposed to decided to target a store.
Continue Reading “Planet Comics and the Effects of Censorship”
Originally published March 8, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1164
So we went to Disney World again.
With New York subjected to more snow jobs than an armada of Rush Limbaughs could present—exacerbated by my extended stays in Montreal for Space Cases—my family needed some relief.
In recent weeks, 4-year-old Ariel had even taken to wailing, “My friends at Disney World miss me.” This summoned up mental pictures of Mickey standing forlornly at the front gate from morning till night, informing the rest of the disappointed characters, “Well, another day without Ariel. What’s the point of living?”
Originally published March 1, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1163
John Adams died on July 4, 1826. There was an irony over his passing on Independence Day. The further irony was his last words: “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” What he did not know was that Jefferson died the same day—under the impression that Adams was still alive.
I doubt that Burne Hogarth or Jerry Siegel died with each other’s names on their lips. Nevertheless, there is a certain “double whammy” feeling when two of this industry’s “forefathers” pass away on the exact same day. One is upsetting; two becomes numbing.
I can’t claim to know Hogarth personally, never having had the opportunity or honor to meet him. Siegel, however, I met once, and it was a memorable moment.
Originally published February 23, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1162
It seems that no matter where you go in the comics industry or what you do or what facet you work in, crossovers and tie-ins are unavoidable. In this case, the word has come down from on high that this installment of BID should tie in with the 25th anniversary of Comics Buyer’s Guide.
• 
Recent Comments