Triple Cover!

Isn't it a great feeling when you come across a comic book with a double cover? Funny how an innocuous printing error can make a comic book fan giddy! It wasn't that long ago that I wrote over here about the joy of double covers, and I'll mention that I have owned fewer than a dozen double-covered comics in my many decades of collecting.

So how would you feel about coming across a TRIPLE cover? I think I never even heard of such a happenstance previously, yet there is one of these utmost-rarities up for bid on ebay right now. The comic worth about $11 in its water-damaged condition has been bid up to $131 with one or two days yet to go in the auction. You can see for yourself over here and good luck if you decide to place a bid!

Dave Sim Drew Jack Kirby

One day I'll show what it looks like when I draw Jack Kirby, but up above you can examine the result when Dave Sim does the deed. (Circling clockwise from upper right, Mr. Kirby is surrounded by Stan Lee and Sheldon Mayer and Will Eisner and Bob Kane and Joe Simon.)

The above drawing is printed facing page 1 in the book shown below. I have not yet finished reading the book but I didn't want to make you wait to see the Kirby!

Hulk Smash! Boris Smash!

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears to be a fan of comics!

In an interview regarding obstacles he has been finding in trying to remove Britain from the European Union, Mr. Johnson recently stated that "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets."

I like it when political leaders liken themselves to superheroes!

Some Nice Shazam!

1952's Whiz Comics #148 was the first Golden Age comic I ever owned, so (The Original) Captain Marvel is very important to me. I was trepidatious when I learned there would be a Shazam movie and even more so when I saw that the poster for the movie featured a bubble gum bubble-blowing Captain Marvel.

This weekend I finally got around to watching the movie on DVD and I needn't have worried. Although there are a few things about the movie I did not like, there were a number of things that I liked quite a bit. No spoilers here but, if you've ever been a fan of The Big Red Cheese, you should definitely see the film.

I do want to share with you the barebones-animated end credits. They crackle with a fun energy and you'll see that Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman and even Aquaman make cameo appearances (and that does NOT count as a spoiler!).

The Best Sandman of Them All?

There have been several different characters in comic books that have shared the name Sandman. The earliest on the scene was Wesley Dodds, first appearing in July 1939's Adventure Comics #40. Dressed in a suit and tie with a cape and gas mask, this Sandman fought crime by gassing bad guys for a little over two years.

Then in 1941 Mr. Dodds ditched the gas mask motif and put on a more standard superhero costume. The run of stories by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby were far more fun than those gassy stories had been.

The Golden Age ended and for some years there was no Sandman to be found in comics. But 1963 saw Stan Lee and Steve Ditko create a villain that claimed the name.

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (yes, them again!) created a whole new Sandman character in 1974.

Arguably the most popular version of a Sandman debuted in 1989, as re-imagined by Neil Gaiman.

Sandman Mystery Theater in the 1990s was a retro-return to Wesley Dodds wearing the gas mask.

In last week's daily newspapers, Patrick McDonnell stripped away the artifice to present the most basic Sandman of them all. Think about it: if a snowman is made by piling one gob of snow upon another, shouldn't a sandman be made by piling one gob of sand upon another? Bravo, Patrick McDonnell! And congratulations on TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of Mutts!