IRON MAN 2 update including Johansson in a Black Widow suit

SUDDENLY I’M A MUCH MORE POPULAR FANATIC
In a recent post, I discussed the amazing work done by Diamond Comic Distributors Elissa Lynch (and Leslie Jackson) as she successfully got Hugh Jackman to record a PSA promoting Free Comic Book Day and comics in general. (CLICK HERE) Thanks to links from many of the comic blogosphere’s best read sites, more people came to Funny Book Fanatic to check out the “story behind the story,” nearly four times more than on any usual day. I want to take this opportunity to thank …

1) Heidi MacDonald @ The Beat

2) Tom Spurgeon @ Comics Reporter

3) J.C. Vaughn @ Diamond’s SCOOP

4) The cool Robot 6 folks @ Comic Resources

Plus an honorable mention to the website home of Joe Field’s Flying Colors store. (Free Comic Book Day was Joe’s idea.)

Vixen, Quiz Question Answers and Black Widow in the shower

BACK TO BASICS … OR UPSETING MR. HEINTJES AGAIN.

What with the trifecta of nicotine withdrawal, calorie counting and excess exercise, I’ve been ignoring my responsibilities to my fanatic fan base. I’ve not made myself available as the stunning font of knowledge through the regular program we (how many of me are there?) like to call “Ask The Dwo.” Okay … okay … everyone stop laughing.

The reason that this upsets my longtime friend Tom Heintjes is two-fold. First he’s responsible for my DWO nickname (yeah, you pronounce it like it was a word … you say du-woh … it doesn’t rhyme with “two”) so he thinks he retains some control over its use. Second he disapproves of “the Dwo,” it is his opinion that my nickname should be “dwo” without the “the.”

Now that I’ve completely bored everyone who stopped by to read about funny books, let me say this to Mr. Heintjes. Get Over It.

None of this changes the goal of this humble program. Ask me a question. Any question. I’ll attempt to answer it. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like the answer. So put on your thinking caps. And if you’re stumped for ideas, you can always check out the BACKGROUND page for ideas. I’ve got an answering “Ask The DWO” post coming up next week.

Jack Kirby vs Gene Colan … really?

Really … JACK KIRBY vs GENE COLAN in some kind of legendary “silver agey” comic book artist smackdown … really … well not really. But it is an interesting thought, you have to admit. If you want to get directly to the controversy (or non-controversy if you actually apply any critical thought to it), you’ll just have to scroll down a little bit.

But first, a tiny bit of unnecessary and probably unwanted non-comics stuff…

I’M NOT TAKING MY GLOVES OR MUZZLE OFF … BUT …

If you know me in any small way, you can probably guess where I come down politically. This is not a political blog. This is also not a personal blog, a music blog or a journalistic blog. That said, don’t be surprised if I talk briefly about my life, my daughter, Jim Croce, The Kentucky Headhunters, The Dan Band, or my degree in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

I don’t really see this as a left/right, blue/red issue, but an issue regarding journalistic integrity, but you be the judge.

That said, I thought that this was a piece of information worth passing along … doing my small piece of the effort. I don’t have any plans to bore you with this kind of polarizing material very often. So if you want to pitch in and help, click the picture at the right (it is a link) … and if you’ve come for a funny book fix instead … just scroll down and away you go.

Macross, She-Dragon and The Gene Colan Project!

If you are a regular visitor here, I’m sorry it has been so long since new material appeared. Oddly, when I quit smoking recently, it lead to me changing a lot of my routine. A changed routine meant finding a new one that included writing blog entries. This has proven to be more difficult than I anticipated. I’ll continue to post as often and thoughtfully as I can … now on with the show.

 

FANATIC QUIZ QUESTION ANSWER FROM MARCH 5

The question on the table was a challenge to put five different Comico titles in the order in which they were released. I even made it easier by choosing titles that were all released in different years. Plus I included a bonus question regarding Robotech: The Macross Saga #2. So without further ado, here are the answers.

Despite good sales, there wasn't a Macross #2.

1. Grendel #1 – released May 1983

2. Elementals #1 – released November 1984

3. Robotech: The Macross Saga #2 – released April 1985

4. Night & The Enemy GN – released November 1987

5. The Maze Agency #1 – released December 1988

The interesting piece of trivia is this: there was NO Robotech: The Macross Saga #1. The first issue of the long running series from Comico was either called Super Dimension Fortress Macross or just Macross, depending on which source material you believe. I would have used the indicia from the issue to settle the argument, but I don’t own a copy. It is interesting that a licensed title would change its name between issue #1 and issue #2.

George Tuska draws the IRON MAN image I see in my head

Don’t forget that this blog features an open invitation to “ASK THE DWO.” Me, Dave, I’m the DWO. Don’t know what you might want to ask me, check out the Background page. It has been a long spell since I’ve had a really good question, so sharpen your virtual pencil and ask me something cool. I can always guarantee an answer, I just can’t guarantee an answer you’ll like.

Check out the fancy new header. A Marvel/DC mash-up from George Pérez. Looks like promo art for something, but I don’t know what. 

I’ve decided to put it up to try to usher in a new era here at Funny Book Fanatic. The new idea. Shorter posts, but put up on the blog more often. Frankly, I have no idea if it will work or not, but I’m going to try. The format of the template I’m using isn’t the greatest for what I’m trying to do, but what the heck. It is my blog and I’ll do what I wanna.