I realize that until very recently I used to be in the minority of people that didn’t have scanners. I know what I’m suggesting here is in the Gone&Forgotten vein, of course. It’s not like I’m going to make a glut of posts about How Rob Liefeld Can’t Draw (©1996 Captain Erica Ltd.) or change my name to Calamity Cam Archer. I’m just floating a line as to whether these subjects are worthy enough for more than a few hundred words and two pictures, since I’ve been aching to do this sort of thing for years.
From Impossible Man Annual #2, 1991. I don’t know how people here feel about The Impossible Man, whether the Poppupians are actually funny to some or the dire wraith of Marvel “Humour” Comics to all. I’m just including the scan because…well, the comic has a lot of these kinds of moments where a Poppupian will go through shapechanging into Groucho Marx, a pie etc. and then out comes something like this Residents reference. Uncanny. The Poppupians will then piss off Hank Pym, Ka-Zar, Thor, Balder, some punks, and probably you.
After these three panels, by the way, Psycho-Man complains about feeling “small.” SEE? HE’S FROM THE MICROVERSE AND HE’S EMOTIONALLY FRAGILE! MY GOD, THE WIT IS BLINDING!
This is from The Web of Spider-Man‘s “Spider-Man Origin Issue” (1987, and I’m sure it’s a revision of an earlier edition). Yes, I know this character became Amazon as part of Thunderbolts. Still…Man-Killer. Fine, Marvel made use of Stegron the Dinosaur Man and Black Cat after this issue came out, and they were also relegated to “Forgotten Foe” status at one point in time. Still, one look at Man-Killer’s origin story and I feel I can predict her storylines for the next forty years. Aim High, True Believers!
Here, of course, is Samurai Penguin #6 from February 1988. For the unknowing, Dan Vado, the founder of Slave Labor Graphics, co-created this character but relegated writing/illustration duties to one Scott Saavedra by this point. Really, it’s amazing how bloody self-referential the issue is in general – Samurai Penguin goes to hell, walks about, attacks a few demons, climbs a mountain, goes up the mountain elevator (postmodernism, see) and enters “a better place.” Samurai Penguin’s corresponding “real life” situation regards him being in a delirious dream state from a fatal wound and dying. I love the cynicism of this panel, as the fourth wall is just mercilessly kicked down here. Self-mocking or just bad writing? YOU DECIDE! NOW FOR A TRUE PENGUIN FACT!
This is but a sampler of what I can talk about here. If any of this is interesting to anyone, let me know. Hopefully I write another UR article before 2007. It’s a dream, but I’m not giving up hope just yet.
- Online Promotion | CBC Gem, Netflix January 2019 premieres - December 14, 2018
- Trailers | “The Macra Terror”, Doctor Who season sets - December 8, 2018
- Trailers | Letterkenny Season 6, Travelers Season 3 - December 5, 2018