Classic Comics Cavalcade: THE ESSENTIAL MAN-THING

This column originally ran on Comics Bulletin

As promised (or threatened) last time, Daniel and Jason are back to talk about Steve Gerber's mad genius work on the classic MAN-THING comic, this time including a sad clown, a demon bitch wife, a barbarian coming out of a jar of peanut butter, a fascist who wants to build an airport, several lesser demons, and a sprightly young witch named Jennifer.

Daniel Elkin: For whatever knows fear, burns at the Man-Thing's touch

Jason Sacks: Great tagline huh?

Elkin: I love how they are able to put it into every issue, as well.

Sacks: I think my favorite is when the gator gets burned at the touch of the Man-Thing

Elkin: Man-Thing seems to enjoy smashing reptiles against trees, doesn't he?

Sacks: You would, too, if you had to share your swamp with them. I mean, he may be a shambling mockery of human anatomy, but the Man-Thing has standards.

Elkin: Heh. Then again, Man-Thing doesn't actually "enjoy" anything, does he? Or does he? What's up with Man-Thing?

Sacks: This is probably the greatest comic book ever about a non-sentient being.

Now - More Than Ever.

Cheap Thrills - TOMB OF DARKNESS #10

This column originally ran on Comics Bulletin

Random Pulls from the Bargain Bin

In these economic times, finding inexpensive entertainment is difficult. Thank goodness for the local comic shop and a slew of comics nobody cares about anymore! Each week Daniel Elkin randomly grabs a comic from the bargain bin (for 50 cents) to see what kind of bang he can get for his two-bits. These are those tales.

February 15, 2012 – paid 50 cents for:
TOMB OF DARKNESS #10
Published by: Marvel Comics
Written by: Stan Lee (?)
Art: Ed Robbins, Bill Benulis, and some other guy

AAAAEEEEEH!

Horror comics are an interesting sub-genre of the comic book world. Unable to rely on jump-scares or atmospheric soundtracks, creators of horror comics must master the art of building tension and be able to plumb the depths of the collective unconscious in order to unearth our deepest jibblies.

It ain't easy to do. It takes talent to be creepy in comics, and there are only a handful of people who can pull this off well.

Why am I talking about this? Because this week's Cheap Thrills pull was a tattered and torn copy of Marvel Comics' Tomb of Darkness #10 from September, 1974.

Ah yes, September of 1974, when the corpulent, cigar chewing, bald men who made the Television decisions of the times finally made some good ones. Land of the Lost, Rhoda, Chico and the Man, Police Woman, and THE ROCKFORD FILES (one of my all-time-favorite shows) all made their debuts, and lordy, lordy, lordy weren't we all the better for it.

Also airing in September of 1974 was a made-for-TV movie called Born Innocent, starring Linda Blair, which featured the first broadcasting of an all-female rape scene.

In music, The Jackson 5 released their album Dancing Machine, Supertramp released Crime of the Century, and Tavares released Hard Core Poetry. Uriah Heep's Gary Thain was also electrocuted on stage in Dallas, Texas. So there's that.

It was September of 1974 in Ethiopia that Emperor Haile Selassie is deposed, creating some serious Rastaman Vibrations.

Meanwhile, in America, then Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee was raiding the old Atlas Comics vaults trying to turn a new nickle off of old weirdness. This lead to the publication of Tomb of Darkness #10, a compilation of five short horror pieces from 1950's comics like Adventures in Terror, Uncanny Tales, and Adventures into Weird Worlds, repackaged with a snazzy new “zombies hate hippies” cover by Larry Lieber.

The Death of Elijah Lovejoy

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Poor Joey Ramone

Your Chicken Enemy

Interview with Patricio Clarey - Artist on Archeologists of Shadows.

This interview originally ran on Comics Bulletin.

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to read and review Archeologists of Shadows Volume 1. While reading the book, I was captivated by the unique artistic vision of Patricio Clarey, and I had to find out some more about his background, his process and what's next in his career. Even though English is not his first language, he was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Daniel Elkin for Comics Bulletin: I don't know if you read my review of Archeologists of Shadows, but I was absolutely blown away by your work on it. I've read a little bit about you on the AOS site and what you wrote in the back of the book, but I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about your background as an artist and whether or not you always wanted to work in comics.

Patricio Clarey: After I graduated from fine arts and moved to Spain, I worked on building a series of projects for four years, writing scripts and creating conceptual art for a motion picture I had an idea for. Because of my lack of skills, means and tools, I had to put those projects away and reconsider what to do from scratch and from a more realistic point of view. It was at that moment, being as honest as possible with myself, when I realized that my major skill is drawing. Then I met writer Lara Fuentes and together we began to work seriously on making comic books.

Lloyd and the Bear

CLICK ON THE LINK "OPEN PUBLICATION" BELOW TO GET THERE
you'll be so happy you did

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The Death and Return of Superman

Poets You Should Know -- ALES DEBELJAK

From Wikipedia:
Ales Debeljak was born in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from comparative literature at the University of Ljubljana in 1985.  He continued his studies in the United States, obtaining a PhD in sociology of culture at Syracuse University in 1989.

He was later a Senior Fulbright fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He also worked at the Institute for Advanced Studies Collegium Budapest, the Civitella Ranieri Center and the Bogliasco Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanitites.

Since the mid 1980s, Debeljak has taken an active part in civil society movements. He has been one of the co-editors of the critical alternative journal Nova revija. He has also participated in the social liberal think tank Forum 21, led by the former President of Slovenia Milan Kučan.

He is currently a professor of cultural studies at the Faculty for Social Studies of the University of Ljubljana.

Stayin' Alive In The Wall

Convenient Truths -- GNARR!

THIS COLUMN ORIGINALLY RAN ON COMICS BULLETIN

Sometimes the most universal truths can be found in the smallest slices of life. That’s what makes independent documentaries so powerful, engaging, and entertaining. Not only do they show you little worlds to which you’ve never had access, but they oftentimes tell the larger story of what it means to be human. Armed with this intellectual conceit, a bag of Funyuns, and a couple of Miller beers, Daniel Elkin curls up in front of the TV to find out a little bit more about all of us.

Today he and his friend Jason were sent a copy of 2010's GNARR! directed by Gaukur Ulfarsson.

Elkin: GNARR! is a documentary following the 2010 Reykjavik, Iceland Municipal elections and, more specifically, the candidacy of The Best Party's Jon Gnarr for Mayor of Reykjavik.

There are a few things you need to know before we go any further in our discussion of the film.

First: In 2008, Iceland suffered a complete economic meltdown thanks to the collapse of all three of the country's major commercial banks. This led to Iceland teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy. Heretofore, Iceland was seen as an economic superhero and the envy of the world as the populace was living high on the hog off the fat of the land while they rubbed their swollen bellies and feasted on the riches they had amassed. Suddenly, the rug was pulled out from under them as everything went tits up in the financial sector.

On top of all this, in 2010 Iceland was covered in volcanic ash thanks to the eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull.

Needless to say, the fine people of Reykjavik became awful grumpy and less than pleased with their elected officials at the time, and, as elections approached, they began to look for an alternative to pull them forth from this miasma.

Enter Jon Gnarr, Iceland's most cynical and controversial comedian. Taking the pulse of the situation, Gnarr created The Best Party, a comedic performance art piece focused on “the power of silly thinking.”

Gnarr said, “After the collapse and its aftermath, I started reading the local news websites and watching the news and political talk shows – and it filled me with so much frustration. Eww! So I wanted to do something, to fuck the system. To change it around and impact it in some way.”

Cheap Thrills - OGRE #3

This Column Originally Ran on Comics Bulletin

Random Pulls from the Bargain Bin

In these economic times, finding inexpensive entertainment is difficult. Thank goodness for the local comic shop and a slew of comics nobody cares about anymore! Each week Daniel Elkin randomly grabs a comic from the bargain bin (for 50 cents) to see what kind of bang he can get for his two-bits. These are those tales.

February 8, 2012 – paid 50 cents for:
OGRE #3
Published by: Black Diamond Publishing
Written by: Phil White
Art: Pete Ayala

CARE TO TUMBLE WITH THE “SHE DEVIL” IN THE SHADOWS OF THE MOON?

Other than the death of George Peppard coupled with the cancellations of both Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Arsenio Hall Show, May 1994 signaled a number of new beginnings.

Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president.

After seven years of labor, the Channel Tunnel between England and France opened up to usher in new era of globalization.

Instead of curb stomping him to death, Illinois chose to be the bigger man and execute “Killer Clown” John Wayne Gacy via lethal injection.

Also in May, 1994, Weezer released its self-titled album, the Beastie Boys released Ill Communication, and Anal Cunt released Everyone Should Be Killed.

Hell, even Epic Megagames released Jazz Jackrabbit for PCs operating DOS in May of 1994.

Things seemed pretty sweet back then. We were fat and firmly ensconced in our Barcaloungers, rubbing our paisley sweater covered bellies and watching our bourbon scented pipe-tobacco smoke curl against the popcorn ceiling tiles of the living room. We were even able to swallow the film releases of Beverly Hills Cop III and The Flintstones and seemingly emerge unscathed.

Way under the radar, though, in the lugubrious pit of “good intentions melded with a lack of talent”, Black Diamond Publishing released issue number three of their four part mini-series called Ogre to a thankfully indifferent audience. Had this comic gotten into more people's hands, it is my feeling that it may have altered the entire gestalt of our national consciousness.

Not in a good way.

Things would have gotten ugly.

Space Freak

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Tom Waits - SATISFIED

At the end of the song, Tom proves he is a Chicken Enemy.