WARNING: COMIC COLLECTORS WHO COLLECT FOR THE MONEYS ARE GOING TO HAVE A STROKE WATCHING THIS!!!
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Sneaking up on us this year.
Free Comic Book Day takes place the first Saturday of May, which this year happens to be May 2nd. That means there isn’t much May to prepare. And it’s not the only free comic event this year, but we’ll save that discussion for tomorrow (barring incidents).
For those of you somehow new to the event, Free Comic Book Day was started by Diamond Publishers, allegedly as a way to help promote comic stores…who have to buy the comics the customers are getting for free in hopes they’ll actually buy something when they’re there and be interested enough in coming back. Of course Diamond probably got money out of it, given all their other questionable business practices that eventually led to their going out of business. Fortunately for fans of the event and free comic books, Universal Distribution Network picked up the event and we still have our favorite gathering of comic fans. Some stores even have special guests from the industry and local creators looking to get some more exposure. The ones near me that I go to will have them. I will not be trying to get interviews because I’m still trying to work videos into my workflow and I may have to start looking for work if I can’t monetize this site at all. Somehow the government thinks I’m able bodied. Shows what they know.
As the previous owners did they have a list of what comics are coming out this year. Unlike the previous owners there are no previews of the…previews. So when it comes to stuff I don’t know I’m going by description as to what looks good to me, or being based in something I already know and are willing to test given how the stuff I used to know tend more and more to be nothing like the stuff I used to love. Still, they have 24 comics to offer. I don’t care about the horror or most of the fantasy offerings, but there are a few things in the list I’m curious about.
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No bug puns, please. It could be hazardous.
Sectaurs #1
Oni Press (or Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Company) (October, 2024)
WRITER: Dennis Culver
ARTIST: Ramon Bachs
COLORIST: Manoli Martinez
LETTERER: Taylor Esposito
EDITOR: Karl Bollers
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I’m surprised none of the usual sites I follow took notice of this. Yes, the story is about supervillains being granted potential amnesty to prepare for another Darkseid invasion. The stakes can’t be any less than all of everything nowadays. Plus modern day writers want to blur the lines between “hero” and “villain” to the point that it doesn’t exist, which I’m sure I’ll be able to complain about again in the future. On the other hand, look what’s circled. It’s Billy Batson’s superhero name.
It isn’t Shazam.
It’s Captain Marvel!
Originally created by rival publisher Fawcett Publications, Captain Marvel and later the classic Marvel family of Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior and friends were the most popular superheroes in comics. Then superhero interest starting waning right around the time that DC Comics (National Publications at the time) decided to misuse the legal system to get rid of Superman’s biggest competition…and then buy it out and drag the characters into the DC Universe. Long story, and I hear different takes on who won what. It doesn’t matter. During the time there was Captain Marvel (just after a really name name swipe for a really lame character), Marvel Comics grabbed the name on the grounds that they’re Marvel Comics and thus should have a hero named Marvel. None of the Captains Marvel they’ve tried over the years, including the current Carol Danvers, have caught on nearly as well as Billy Batson.
At some point DC stopped trying. They couldn’t use the name on the comic covers but he was able to use it in the comic itself as well as the two TV shows produced by Filmation and the gag special two-parter Legends Of The Superheroes. There was also the old movie serial that predated this nonsense. He was never called Shazam, and why would they? The show starred more than one hero, especially the cartoon that also featured Mary, Captain Marvel Jr, Uncle Dudley (who liked to think he had powers), the Wizard, and the bipedal lionman Tawky Tawny. Meanwhile the previous live-action series had Billy joined by Mentor who lived up to his name alongside the various gods and heroes of legend that Captain Marvel’s powers were tied to. We all knew him as Captain Marvel regardless of what the merchandise said or what the comic/show title was.
They decided to go with “Shazam” anyway, meaning his magic word to transform was also his name. The same joke about Captain Marvel Jr, not being able to say his name without changing back, now would be applied to our hero if they didn’t add some nonsense about how you said it. Then the New 52 happened and Geoff Johns totally reimagined him and the Marvel Family concept, which I’m sure had nothing to do with royalties and Retcon Johns’ obsession with his own “better ideas”. More recent shows, as well as both theatrical and direct-to-video movies, have thus gone with the name even when he was just showing up in a team show. I think the last use of Captain Marvel was either Batman: The Brave & The Bold or Young Justice.
This return should be a bigger deal, but I only found out about it because Facebook showed me this article from ComicBook.com. Writer Marcus Helminiak questioned if this should happen after 15 years of Shazam. I see his points and he has some fair ones, but I disagree. He deserves his proper name back.
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Plastic Man, on the trail of whoever stole parts of the cover.
Police Comics #8
Comic Magazines Incorporated (March, 1942)
Comic Book Plus has a cleaner cover scanned and posted right after the one to the left, but I didn’t know that when I uploaded it. The gag’s in place so we’re leaving it. Also, this is the first mention I’ve seen for “Quality Comics” in an inside cover ad. Otherwise, the indicia says “Comic Magazines Incorporated” so that’s what I’ve been going with even though CB+ calls it Quality Comics. So now you know, let’s move on.
BW Media Spotlight 