Bronze Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Saturdays # 57

This issue is WET! Subby's creator Bill Everett rallies one final time for a full issue on his own and it may well be his magnum opus, going so far as to resurrect Everett's other major Marvel (or rather Atlas) character, Venus!

As far as the splash here, let's just say the word "splash" is most appropriate. One might quibble with Namor's anatomy  but this is an amazing splash page. While Everett will continue on a bit longer, he will never again be at full strength, using assistants and in-house retouches from Romita's Raiders.

If you can find this issue, though, enjoy! THIS is the one true Sub-Mariner!

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Let's Recap

Just a warning that there is yet again a very real chance that we may end up being offline for a while after the first due to lack of payment. Should this occur--or even if it doesn't--we wanted to remind you that there are plenty of cool things to read on all 12 of the Booksteve Blogs.

This blog, BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY, is celebrating its 6th year this year and there are over 3000 posts you can go back and pick up on dealing with forgotten films, cool comic books, Linda Blair, Hayley Mills, ads, book reviews and much more.

GOING FOR BROKE-THE CHRISTA HELM STORY archives our exclusive coverage of the life and murder of the tragic starlet. A fascinating story that may soon become an e-book.

HOORAY FOR WALLY WOOD--Wallace Wood died in 1981 but 2012 is easily his most successful year ever with two lovely new hardcover books out so far and two (or maybe four!) more due by the end of the year. You'll find lots of rare photos and examples of his work here. More than 700 posts here.

SHADES OF GRAY--Similar to the above, this one shares the art of the unique comics artist and sci-fi painter, Gray Morrow who died a decade back.

THE BOOKSTEVE CHANNEL is our newest blog, highlighting my personal relationship with television shows an specials from the past five decades.

BOOKSTEVE PRESENTS is following my attempts at learning about Italian slow cooking to promote a new Italian slow cooker cookbook.

DAYS OF ADVENTURE offers issue by issue highlights from nearly fifty years of ADVENTURE COMICS, home to, among others, Sandman, Superboy, the Spectre, the Bizarros and The Legion of Super Heroes.

FOUR COLOR SHADOWS is my Rondo-nominated blog reprinting rare, interesting or unusual comic book stories from the thirties to the sixties. It's been getting a lot of good press lately and as of this writing there are 660 stories there you can read!

A GEEK'S JOURNAL, 1976 is the one that really went through the roof. All last year, day by day, we posted my high school diary to a bizarre and wonderful level of acceptance. This one will be going away soon--with an expanded book to possibly follow!

1974, A GEEK'S FIRST JOURNAL is the (surprisingly) much demanded follow-up chronicling the movies, comics and dirty magazines in the life of 15 year old me back in the mid-seventies.

After those two years, go back even further to 1966, MY FAVORITE YEAR, in my opinion the single best pop culture year of the 20th century. 386 posts of music, books, movies, TV and comics there.

And finally, BOOKSTEVE'S BOOKSTORE PLUS! was quite successful in netting us some much needed money last year but sales have fallen off drastically. If you get your tax refund or have a little extra, please take a look at the more than 100 items still offered there, many recently marked down form already low, low prices!

Find links to all of the above over on the right sidebar and enjoy! Don't forget to let us know what you think!

As always, many thanks for everyone's support. We aren't going anywhere, even if we do end up getting briefly interrupted. So keep checking back for more pop culture goodness!

Coming up next month--The final Cincinnati Old Time Radio Con and the annual Stevens Point, Wisconsin Weekend-long Trivia Contest! And on the Wally Wood blog, my review of the variant edition of IDW's incredible new EC original art book! (Thanks to Scott D. for snagging me a copy!)

The Farrah Fawcett Fan Club

If you followed my 1976 blog, you know that, like every other red-blooded American teenage boy in the Bicentennial year, I was a BIG Farrah fan! In fact, the following year I even joined the Farrah Fawcett Fan Club! I wrote all about it a few years back on the late, lamented BUBBLEGUMFINK blog but Fink took that post with him when he crashed and burned. Today I found some of the scans of the Fan Club kit on an old hard drive!

The Avengers Dead Man's Treasure Hunt Murdersville Weekend

The Bull's Eye--Green Arrow's Joker

Over at our DAYS OF ADVENTURE blog, I've noted in recent weeks how surprised I was to discover that the Golden Age Green Arrow and Speedy had their own version of Batman and Robin's arch-villain, The Joker--theirs being The Bull's-Eye. Reader Kelly writes to tell me that, in fact, this crime clown actually debuted earlier in two issues of WORLD'S FINEST. So I found those splashes, presented here. Check out his later appearances at DAYS OF ADVENTURE!

Dee As Art

Friend and fellow writer Dee Sutter, photo taken and "psychedelically enhanced" yesterday. Check out Dee's newest eBook, JOURNEY OF SHADOWS, edited by yours truly.

Bronze Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Saturdays # 56

The bad news--Bill Everett is missing. The good news--Dan Adkins who had drawn Namor in some of his TALES TO ASTONISH stories a few years earlier fills in with this absolutely marvelous splash. The design, the coloring, the lettering and the art itself. After the frenetic Everett work of recent issues, the innate calm here is almost palpable. One of my favorites of the whole run.

The Single Most Important Magazine In My Entire Collection.

This 1972 issue of GRAPHIC STORY WORLD was--


1st Fanzine I ever saw, my introduction to organized fandom.


First info I ever had on EC, a company I'd never heard of before.


Introduction to Gilbert Shelton, one of my all-time favorite cartoonists.


Introduction to the work of Dan Spiegle, another favorite artist.


First time I ever saw uninked Kirby pencils.


First time I ever heard of Shel Dorf.


Intro to the mag's publisher, Richard Kyle, later credited with coining the term "graphic novel."


 Introduced me to foreign comics including LUC ORIENT, BERNARD PRINCE and BRUNO BRAZIL, all of which later became favorites even though I can't read a word of them!


And most importantly, I ordered the "free lifetime subscription" to TBG from an ad here, starting my sub with issue 17 and continuing it for another 25 years long past the point where they started charging and went weekly!

Masked Men, Danger Men, Castaways and Lamb Stew!

Just another plug for our newest Booksteve Blog, THE BOOKSTEVE CHANNEL, in which I'm having great fun chronicling my own personal association with TV shows over the years.

We certainly haven't abandoned the Library but this is one of those weeks when real life is insisting on being an issue (remember, donations are appreciated and check out our sale site for bargains!) so I'm devoting a bit more energy to getting that one started.
http://bookstevechannel.blogspot.com/

And don't forget our promotional blog, BOOKSTEVE PRESENTS, currently serving up my adventures and misadventures in Italian cooking (and eating!).

http://bookstevepresents.blogspot.com/

Superman Faces the Consequences!

Another New Blog!!??

Check out my latest blog!

http://bookstevechannel.blogspot.com/

The Official Barf Book Revisited

Efforts to create a Facebook Page for Craig Yoe's THE OFFICIAL BARF BOOK in recent days have failed due to various Facebook policies, not the least of which is that "barf" seems to be one of their forbidden words when it comes to pages (although I'm sure I've seen worse!). I have created a group for the book but the group page leaves something to be desired and, as yet, there isn't much there.



Here, however, we see the opening pages of several sections in this disgusting--but hilarious and educational!-- book written by yours truly.

Some marvelous illustrations in the rock section, all by Greg Oakes, with whom I have since become friends online!

This section below was probably the hardest to write as I had to watch a  LOT of applicable scenes from various films to determine the most...the best...the...well...Yuck!

 

THE OFFICIAL BARF BOOK really is the perfect April Fool's Day gift. Still time to get it by April 1st if you order today! See the Amazon Link elsewhere on this page.

Week of Hong

Coming soon from many of the same folks--myself included--who participated in last year's weeklong tribute to actor Yaphet Kotto, comes a similar six day celebration of the works of actor James Hong who seemed to be in everything in the seventies. And I mean everything! Wait until you see what film we'll be writing about here.

Bronze Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Saturdays # 55

Note that this one says "A Bill Everett Production" rather than credit him with anything specific. It's obvious he does the lion's share of the work again but some of the inking--as well as some pasteovers or retouching--is clearly from someone else. That's Namor's old girlfriend Betty Dean in the glasses, about to take custody of the Prince's jailbait cousin so he can get on with some adventures and stuff. 

As splash pages go, this one is largely exposition, quickly finishing off the preceding, problematic storyline in order to introduce a big, kind of silly looking monster. I do like the design of Betty's dress, though, and the muted colors are always welcome. At the point where the fans were reading this and raving about Everett's big comeback, little did we know he had only about six months to live. 

R.I.P.--You're Only As Good As Your Last Picture

Thanks to all the fans who supported my movie blog, YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST PICTURE but earlier today, after long consideration and more than a year since I've been able to update that one, I decided to pull the plug on it. If possible, I may incorporate new posts on the subject here at BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY in the future or, if posting becomes an issue here, reprint some of the old posts, as well.

Depending on how you look at it, this leaves me down to a more manageable eleven blogs...or an uneven eleven blogs. Do I need one more to fill that gap? If so, what subject?? Any suggestions?

Encyclopedia Brittanica

Here's Donavan Freberg (with the voice of his father Stan) with one of the most memorable commercials of its day (which was 1991). Today Brittanica announced they would no longer be publishing the encyclopedia. The future is here. R.I.P.

Donavan, by the way, went on to be a brilliant photographer and is one of my Facebook friends.

We Appreciate Your Support

Crunch time on some bills again and now we have some computer issues, too! Aargh!  If you like what we do here (and on our other 11 blogs!) we ask that you consider a PayPal donation (on the sidebar) to help keep us doing it! If you've given in the past, we appreciate your support more than you can know but you aren't eligible to give again at this time. Take care of yourselves.  Thanks!

Seen here, btw, are two of my newest pieces of computer pop art, the first I have made in more than two years!

Rare Bob Kane Batman From 1985

March DVD Update

Lots of new things this time around at BOOKSTEVE RARITIES. Here are just a few.

NEW ITEMS AS OF March 1, 2012

BLONDIE: The Television Series 

In the 1950s, a short-run television series starred Arthur Lake and Pamela Britton (with Harold Peary as Mr. Dithers), based on the long-running comic strip of the same name. Yes, Lake was reprising his role of Dagwood from the movies. These half-hour TV shows are very enjoyable. This five disc set includes the following: The Pilot Show, Mr. Dithers is Hospitalized, Deception, The Payoff Money, Made to Fire, Alexander's Birthday Party, Dagwood's Ego, The Lamp, Get That Gun, The Spy, Howdy Neighbor!, Mr. Dithers Moves In, Husbands Once Removed, Blondie is the Bread Winner, The Grouch, Puppy Love, The Payoff Money, Rummage Sale, The Tramp, Blondie Redecorates, and The Quiz Show. This is a five-DVD box set!  $25

THE TALL MAN  (Complete Series)

Fictionalized stories about Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, set in New Mexico in the 1870s. The complete 1960-62 television western, all 75 half-hour episodes, are contained in this eight-DVD box set. Stars Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager. Guests include Kermit Maynard, Leonard Nimoy, Martin Landau, George Macready, Jim Davis, Andy Clyde, George Kennedy and more!

$40.00 

ORCHIDS AND ERMINE  (1921)

Even if you don't care much for silent movies, this is one of the ten must-see films. Known as the film debut of Mickey Rooney (age 3), it's also one of the funniest films ever made. Colleen Moore plays a switchboard operator at a fancy hotel who meets an oil millionaire from Oklahoma but thinks he's just the valet. Comical situations start to happen. Very witty, very funny, and gorgeous picture quality (especially considering the fact we've bought four different releases of this movie till we finally found a gorgeous one).

THE GOOD HUMOR MAN  (1950) 

Biff Jones is a driver/salesman for the Good Humor ice-cream company. He hopes to marry his girl, Margie, who works as a secretary for Stuart Nagel, an insurance investigator. Margie won't marry Biff, though, because she is the sole support for her kid brother, Johnny. When gangsters come into the picture, Biff tries to help out --only to be accused of murder. When the police refuse to believe his story, Biff and Johnny set out to prove Biff's innocence and solve the crime. Stars Jack Carson, George Reeves and Lola Albright.

REX BELL WESTERNS 

Six classic cowboy Westerns starring Rex Bell. The Tonto Kid (1934), Law and Lead (1936), Saddle Aces (1935), The Idaho Kid (1936), Gunfire (1934) and West of Nevada (1936). This is a two-DVD set.

To order any of these or hundreds more rare items, go here!

Bronze Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Saturdays # 54

This one has an excuse. Looks like Bill Everett pulled it together and finished the story that was left undone halfway through the previous issue. Unfortunately, there was no new splash--just the next page. Editor Roy Thomas or someone pulled together a fake splash here by devoting the top quarter page to the horrendously colored new title for this second half. And that's all it is, too, as this one also ends halfway through. The issue is padded out with a fun backup by the always-interesting Alan Weiss. For Everett's part, his panels seem less detailed than usual and there's some obvious retouching from John Romita. 

R.I.P-- Moebius/Jean Giraud

Announcing: Booksteve Presents

Okay, we tried this a couple weeks ago but it didn't take for various reasons. Now, we're trying it again. Cider Mill Press assigned me to promote a new book of theirs entitled ITALIAN SLOW COOKING. Now I love Italian food but I'm generally satisfied with a lasagna of one sort or another or a simple pasta dish with a sauce. And quite frankly, it's been at least a decade since I had used a slow cooker and I wasn't thrilled with them even then.

But the recipes in the book intrigued me. I realized that the fact that I didn't know much about either Italian cuisine or slow cooking could work to my advantage and I decided to use it that way.

In my new blog, BOOKSTEVE PRESENTS, I'll be promoting one item in some depth. In this case, I will be teaching myself about Italian foods and slow cookers using this new cookbook and trying and reporting on the recipes! This could be fun (to say nothing of delicious!). We picked up an inexpensive brand name slow cooker a couple of weeks back and we're planning on trying the first recipe this weekend.

Whether or not you have any intention of buying ITALIAN SLOW COOKING, I ask you to check out my daily updates at BOOKSTEVE PRESENTS for what promises to be a fun and educational experiment!

Thanx!

http://bookstevepresents.blogspot.com/

R.I.P. Peter Bergman

Jack Kirby and The Black Hole

Gleaned from various Net sources here is some little seen jack Kirby art from his newspaper comics adaptation of Walt Disney's movie, THE BLACK HOLE. This was later reprinted in part in one of the Disney Digest magazines early in the 21st Century. 

Dee Sutter's Journey of Shadows

I don't remember the exact date but it was early in 2003 when I first met Dee Sutter. She was 18 years old and wandered into the bookstore I was managing one Monday evening to look at witchcraft books. We got that a lot from 18 year old girls.

With no one else in the store, we started talking. As if to give us a chance to get to know each other, not a  single other customer came in for the rest of that evening. Not one... for three hours. So we talked... for three hours. She stood outside the gate while I counted out the money and then I walked her to her car, thanking her for helping me pass my evening in enjoyable conversation.

Over the next few months, she became a regular at the store and made friends with several of the employees including future muse Brittany Rose. Somehow she even ended up at the thrown together farewell party those same few employees gave me when I left the company after 21 years in June of that year. Being a happily married middle-aged man, I presumed that would be the last I'd see of her.

A few months later, however, I ended up calling on her for research help on a writing project I was doing about young people. We met at a park with a tape recorder and again talked until well past dark.

Then Dee moved to Alabama and I presumed--again-- that was the last I'd ever see of her. Somehow, though, we ended up staying in touch online and when she decided that she would like to publish a couple of short stories, she had me read through them first. I, myself, was even inspired to write a short story with a character inspired by Dee.

But she had her own life and I had mine. Times were kind of tough for us both and we spoke online less and less. Life moved on and I became convinced--again-- that was the last I'd hear from her.

You've probably guessed by now that it wasn't. One day, out of the blue, she emailed to say she would be visiting friends up here and wanted to get together so I met her (along with one of my former employees) for a late dinner one night.

This time, we didn't lose touch. Dee even began an online political discourse with my wife totally separate from my own somewhat odd relationship with her. Over the next couple of years, we'd get together briefly whenever she'd visit and then one day she told me she had an idea for a story, her first in some years. I read what she sent me and told her to go for it. She did. It was a good idea with some original concepts.

Over the next weeks and months I heard more and more about it and, during NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH (NaNoWriMo) in 2009, she more or less finished it! What followed was some weirdness including the two of us spending a full 24 hours together in a cave split between editing her book and working on another project. It was all great fun and we came out of it with a book I was proud to be associated with.

But it wasn't done. It needed a polish and some more editing. Life, as it does got in the way and the book became backburnered. I did another partial edit here and she worked on some changes to it from time to time there. Over time, she even moved back here where she and my wife and son have become great friends, also.

Finally, this week, after nearly two and a half years since that first germ of an idea was passed on to me, I spent another 17 hour marathon editing and proofreading session and we both pronounced JOURNEY OF SHADOWS, BOOK 1 OF THE IMMORTALIS TRILOGY, finished!

As fantasy quest novels go, it's more original than most while still offering plenty of what genre fans want from these types of epic fantasy adventures.

Dee has created characters that the reader is drawn to, each with a unique personality. The perilous situations in which she places them offer some real intrigue and her descriptive skills are such that a long sea voyage scene nearly made me motion sick!

It's only $2.99 for the eBook and while it is most definitely Dee Sutter's book, I've spent an awful lot of time in the world Dee has created and I'd appreciate it if you'd give it a try and let me know what you think. She wrote the second book last year at NaNoWriMo so more will be forthcoming!

For the price, you can get it for most of the major eBook formats or also as a downloadable PDF file. Amazon offers a free Kindle app for MAC or PC if you'd like one.

It's been a long journey for Dee to get to JOURNEY OF SHADOWS but she's good. I guarantee you this is just the beginning.

For more on JOURNEY OF SHADOWS, check the ad link at the bottom of the page. To order direct from SMASHWORDS, go here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/139475