Orienteering

I recently reread Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga. If you’ve read my book, Deus ex Comica: The Rebirth of a Comic Book Fan, then you know this was the trade paperback that jumpstarted my long-dormant love of comics. Reading this classic X-Men tale again was a real treat, and I find that each run through of the material yields something new to me. This time, what really struck me was the brilliance of writer Chris Claremont and penciller & co-plotter John Byrne’s work, specifically, the recap on page two of issue #134. It’s preceded by the expected splash page, but by itself the second page is impeccable. The simplicity of it belies the complexity of where we are in the story. It’s both a visual feast of color and a descriptive bit of storytelling to orient the reader. Perfect.

Marvel Solicits - November 1984

Even today, Aurora from Alpha Flight still makes me a little uncomfortable in that "adolescent boy just discovering girls" kind of way. But if there was any sure-fire way to get me to pony up for a Marvel Comics subscription as an early teenager, I suppose the tingly hint of four-color sex was the way to do it. And late summer 1984 would have been right around the time I was re-upping my subscriptions to titles like G.I. Joe and Uncanny X-Men.

There is something to be said for the way Marvel has always positioned itself in relation to its customers. Just like the Bullpen Bulletins used to make us feel like insiders wandering the hallowed House of Ideas halls, using a quartet from the pages of John Byrne's Canadian team to frame this as a "Special Subscriber's Club" is well within the grand tradition of all things Marvel. Here, your 26 quarters and the completed "Enrollment Certificate" will practically buy you a membership into the greatest comic book club on the planet along with that 16 issue subscription!

I came across this Byrne-drawn ad (signed just below Sasquatch's right shin) in the back of issue #2 of Tom DeFalco's Machine Man four-issue limited series (and run again in the December 1984 issue #3). Around the time of this subscription solicit, Sasquatch and Aurora were struggling to find their way in a relationship while dealing with Aurora's multiple personality disorder, but it's obvious from that grin on Sasquatch's mug that things are good here as he hoists his best girl and teammate Marrina above his head. And check out that authentic Canadian flair the ad copy gives Puck. Good stuff all around, eh?

Marvel Solicits - March 1984

March 1984 was a great time to be a comic book fan. We'd just survived Assistant Editors' Month in January, G.I. Joe was just finishing its second year of publication, John Byrne was hitting on all cylinders with Alpha Flight, Fantastic Four, and The Thing, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe was wrapping up, and limited series were everywhere: X-Men/Micronauts, Magik: Storm and Illyana, and Jack of Hearts.

And, remember, because of the timing of these books' release, we were in the throes of the holiday season. And my most favorite Marvel subscription ad of this era shows up here: the Inhumans' Black Bolt, Medusa, and Lockjaw hawking the yuletide savings from the House of Ideas. This is one of the few solicit ads I've come across from back in the day that's actually signed (just to the right of the chimney), but unfortunately I can't discern whose signature it is.

The Inhumans were one of those groups that were sort of on the fringes of the Marvel Universe, always there but rarely front-and-center. They showed up on the pages of the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and The Thing, both Vision and the Scarlet Witch miniseries, and even in "The Origin of the Vision" Marvel Illustrated Book I had. But in 1984, Black Bolt and Medusa got married in Fantastic Four Annual #18. I was reading FF at the time because She-Hulk was filling in for The Thing, and I have always been a fan of that line-up. So it was cool of Marvel to put the newlyweds out in front of their holiday subscription campaign.

Happy Holidays!

Funky Connections

I haven't followed Tom Batiuk's Funky Winkerbean in years. (Though for some reason, I do read his Winkerbean spin-off, Crankshaft, every week in the Sunday paper.) I grew up reading Funky in the '80s because it was the local guy making good and the comic was set in Northeast Ohio. But then I moved out of the area for 10 years, stopped reading the funny pages regularly, and lost track of the characters. But I'm always up for an interesting talk and supporting our fantastic local library, so I went to hear Batiuk speak Wednesday night.

The talk mainly focused on Lisa's Story, Batiuk's comics page epic of one of his main character's battle with breast cancer. Batiuk comes off as self-depreciating and self-assured in the same breath (a compliment). His half-hour talk and half-hour audience Q&A was engaging and entertaining. And I learned a few things along the way.

Of the most interest to me -- especially as I am currently immersed in the comic book culture while working to turn my Deus ex Comica series into a self-published book -- was finding out that Batiuk is friends with John Byrne, and that Byrne even drew the strip for ten weeks back in 2003 while Batiuk recovered from foot surgery. After the talk I came home and did some digging, finding Byrne's work on the Funky strip online. Very cool, indeed.

Batiuk is a fan of sequential art. So it makes sense he relishes those moments when he's been able to incorporate super heroes in his own medium. He has drawn Superman, Wonder Woman, and She-Hulk in his strip over the years. He has pictures of the boyhood Cleveland home of Jerry Siegel, creator of Superman, on his web site. And earlier this year he did a Sunday strip that was an homage to Tales of Suspense #80.

I really enjoyed Batiuk's talk and appreciate what he's done with his talent, stretching his influence beyond the funny pages. And I might have to give reading Funky Winkerbean another go, twenty years later, because it sounds like Batiuk's still doing some bold things with the strip (like the recent time jump), and it seems like it just might still be relevant.