Batman only seems tough because comics stopped using thought balloons.

Narrative blocks have long taken the place of thought balloons in comics. It's not the same. They're like cleaned-up journal entries. Actual thought balloons expose the real truth. Case in point, the below panel is from The Brave and the Bold #64 (1966). Batman looks tough as he crumples a hastily scribbled note, but on the inside...

Who indeed.

I'm pretty sure he still thinks like this, but "the man" won't let us see it!

I can't explain this.

I was looking through some old drawings and found this...

I don't know why I drew it.

Proof That I Have Too Many Comics.

While sorting through my comics, I found Amazing Spider-Man #124 (1973)...


...Marvel Tales #101 (1978)...


...and Power Records #10 (1974).


It's the same freakin' story!

A Blooper, Indeed.

I recently ran across this book, printed in 1969, The Dictionary of Bloopers & Boners.


Before you get the wrong idea around what the book is about, let me show you a couple of excerpts from the book's forward.


It goes on to examine how such things can occur.


In the body of the book, some of the entries have an accompanying cartoon.


It's a fun read highlighting misused words or ideas from various sources. The dedication page has a single statement on it...


A nice sentiment. It could only be better if it had a cartoon to go with it.

It isn't easy being green.

She-Hulk has green blood. It drove me a little crazy when Greg Horn painted many She-Hulk covers, during Dan Slott's great run, that gave her red-rimmed eyes. To me, she merely looked like a red-blooded girl painted green.

That may be why the green-skinned woman in the newest Star Trek movie looks merely painted to me too.

I'm just saying.

Weird Marvel Comics Ad - Ricochet Racers!

I recently ran across Marvel Spotlight #32 (1976) in my basement. The bottom blurb states "Positively the most shocking ending you'll read this month!"

Well, I flipped through the story and wasn't very shocked. I think the blurb might be referring to the actual last page in the book, an ad. It shocked me in its oddness. Click to enlarge.

I don't know how you feel about it, but in my head, it reads something like this...

Random Moments from Old Comics, #2

I'm still organizing the comics in my basement. I'm going through the Marvels first. Here's a few things I've run across....

Those Aren't Enhanced? Really?
There was a fad in the early 90's of using "enhanced" covers to help sell comics. There were covers cut into shapes, covers with shiny inks or foils, covers with embossed images, and combinations of each.

Below is She-Hulk #50 (1993). The logo and "50" broach are embossed and printed in silver foil. She-Hulk's flesh is printed in green foil, but not embossed.

The layout of the cover has never made sense to me. Why would a big, blank area be the center of focus, unless the original plan was to also use emboss? I Photoshopped a version of what, I think, someone must have chickened out of doing...

John Byrne purposefully did a fun-loving, cheesecake book. I'm not sure if the above picture was the original intent or not, but it doesn't seem much tackier than what DC did with embossed silver foil in 1993 on Lobo #1.


Unreasonable request + Deadline = Short Cut
Marvel Team Annual # 4 is a light-hearted story written by Frank Miller and penciled by Herb Trimpe. It contains a full page image where Spider-Man says, "Look at them! Hundreds-- thousands of people, all screaming for our deaths!"

If Mr. Miller planned this as an entire page, I suspect he wasn't expecting to see a giant Spider-Man head filling it! Instead of showing thousands of people attacking, drawing the horror on Spider-Man's face is an effective time saver. Too bad he wears a mask.

Things We Should Never See, Part 3.
Here's Modok as seen in Marvel Team-Up #104 (1981).

Below is how we see him later in the book. Modok shouldn't have a body. Even if he's smashed out of his equipment, he just shouldn't.

It's like seeing Galactus without his helmet.