Action Comics #1 Goes To Auction, AP Shoddily Reports

Maybe I am the only one who cares, but after I read this story from the Associated Press, I got a little pissed off at the lack of professional journalism. To me, this is a microcosm of the bigger problem in American journalism today. You can tell whoever wrote this has no idea what he or she is talking about. That's fine, I'm sure there aren't that many comic book collectors working at the AP, but if you are going to write the story at least do the research and find out. The AP could have called me, I would have lent my expertise for a very nominal fee.

I'm not going to go into everything wrong with the article, but the first sentence should tip you off.
"A rare copy of the Action comic book that launched Superman..." Yes, it is not just a comic book, it is an 'Action' comic book. It doesn't just lie there waiting for you to read it, it gets all up in your face! Maybe you think I'm flying off the handle a little, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

Tell you what, AP, if you would like my help with any comic book related stories in the future, feel free to contact me at this blog. The first time will be free. Anything I can do to help the press pull themselves out of the horrendous mire they've been sinking into over the past decade.

By the way, the comic for sale has been graded, and the auction starts Friday.
"Action!"

The Longest Running Monthly Comic Series...

..according to Wikipedia is Detective Comics. Uninterrupted since 1937. This in response to a discussion today at Charging Star Comics. Now, and interesting wrinkle. You may be saying to yourself, "But Action Comics is at a higher number than Detective." According to Wikipedia:

Action Comics is the second-longest running DC Comics series after Detective Comics; however, it cannot claim to have had an uninterrupted run, due in large part to two separate occasions on which the title was put on a three-month hiatus.
...

In 1988, DC Comics tried unsuccessfully to return the format of the comic to an anthology and publish it on a weekly basis. After May, 1988's landmark issue #600, issues #601-605 all bore August cover dates.^[5] The Action Comics Weekly experiment lasted only until the beginning of March 1989, however, and after a short break, July's issue #643 brought the title back onto a monthly schedule.^[5] (However, the temporarily increased frequency of issues allowed Action to further surpass the older Detective Comics in the number of individual issues published. It originally passed Detective Comics in the 1970s when that series was bi-monthly for a number of years.)

Unfortunately, this magnificent 72 year unbroken run will come to a end next month:

In 2008, DC announced that Detective Comics will be going "on hiatus" in 2009 as part of a planned reorganization of the Batman universe.^[2] The title will return in June and will feature the new Batwoman.

Thus, there is no longer an unbroken monthly comic. Thanks a lot Dan Didio. My prediction: Batman will be back starring in Detective Comics in 6 months, Batwoman will not last due to lack of sales. And all this hoopla will have been for nothing.

Cool Stuff

There is a new link to the website epic proportions. They have some cool stuff you should check out. The t-shirts are quite rad, my favorites are the Urban Ninja and Last Samurai. If you want to distance yourself from poseurs, and stand out from the crowd, get some of these t-shirts. They also have buttons and other cool things. Support the little guy!

Thor movie casting call

Watch this. The part of Thor is a shoe-in. My vote is for James Preston Rogers! Go home, Brad Pitt!
T.G.I.F.

Odin's blood...

The 'Watch Instantly' feature on Netflix has eaten much of my brain. Between The Office, 30 Rock, and Sliders, (yes, Sliders...) well, let's just say it's like a time machine that sucks away years of your life. Kind of like in The Princess Bride, but without the screaming.

And now...COMICS!

Thor #600:

I always hate it when they start renumbering a series and then reset the numbering, especially when they do it right as a milestone issue comes out. Do I cry foul? A little. It seems like cheating, or at least short-sightedness. You really didn't know that in 10 issues it would be #600? I doubt that. You all just wanted a new #1 First Collector's Issue! It all starts here! Again! And then a few months later...#600 Milestone! OMG!
All that numbering crap aside, I hadn't been following the new Thor series at all, but #600 seems like a good jumping on point. The action is awesome and the deviousness of Loki is particularly cruel in this instance. Tricking someone into killing their grandfather is hardcore evil. Plus, it all ties into the Dark Reign arc, and isn't forced or unnatural. The backup story was pretty lame, and the reprints are just there, take them or leave them, but the Mini Marvels feature was hilarious, I always like those.

Mjolnir Watch: Apparently, in order to defeat the father of Odin, you got to break a few eggs, or Enchanted Hammers. Yikes!This...cannot be good.

NYCC '09 and Batman

A friend of mine met the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Walt Simonson at the New York Comic-Con. Check it out here. If you don't already know, Mr. Simonson had a legendary run on Thor, during which he created none other than Beta Ray Bill.

In other news, I am going to be preparing a presentation on The Dark Knight Returns, so if anyone has any advice, I'd be glad to hear it. I haven't done anything like this in awhile, so I am a little nervous about it, but also excited.

New comics today, I have decided to dive into the Battle for the Cowl mini since we will all be otherwise Batman-less until June sometime. This week is the first of the Neil Gaiman 2 part story, a sort of farewell to Batman, I guess. Plus, the final issues of Robin and Nightwing. I am already tired of this crossover and it hasn't even started yet. I can only hope the resulting new status quo isn't a total cock-up.

Joe Quesada and Continuity

Here is the link to the whole story on Newsrama.

Update: Amazing Spider-Man #583 is now in its fifth printing...


Now, read this from the Newsrama article:

"The new printing of the commemorative issue comes after Marvel has now insisted that the character who appears as the President in recent issues of Thunderbolts (a tall, thin, African American male) is in fact not President Obama, but rather a representation of the President in the Marvel Universe. This after Thunderbolts writer Andy Diggle had referred to the character as Barack Obama, and Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada had stated about the Spider-Man meeting: "When we heard that [President] Obama is a collector of Spider-Man comics, we knew that these two historic figures had to meet in our comics' Marvel Universe. Historic moments such as this one can be refelcted in our comics because the Marvel Universe is set in the real world."

Alright, Joe Q., so who is the President in the Marvel universe, if that wasn't Obama in Thunderbolts? Let's check my commemorative edition of The Daily Bugle, shall we?

I think this shows that Obama won the election in the Marvel universe. This leaves us with three possible explanations as to who it really is that everyone calls "Mister President" in Thunderbolts #128

1. Obama won the election, but died and was replaced with another guy who looks an awful lot like him.

2. It is Obama and Joe Q. is lying so he doesn't get sued.

3. Obama is a Skrull!!!

QUESADA CONTINUITY FAIL

Back to the Future: 2099 Returns!

If you don't remember Marvel's 2099 universe from the early 90's, that is ok. I remember liking Spider-Man and Punisher 2099, and there were some cool ideas, but X-Men and some of the other titles (Ravage 2099, anyone?) kinda sucked. This article on Newsrama interviews the creator of the upcoming Timestorm 2099 mini-series. I have to admit, I am kind of excited about this.


So, remember how Obama appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man #583 (now in its fourth printing!) caused that book to be huge and sell out and cause all kinds of problems? Nobody even mentioned the fact that Obama appears in Thunderbolts #128! And I have a copy of the first printing!! I'll gladly sell it for the low, low one time collector's price of $49.99 to anyone who wants it!
You tell 'em, Ant-Man!