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I’ve decided that I’ll just do one more post replying to Isaac’s question, as I’m sure I’ve hit the big ones here. Specifically, as you may remember, he asked about the different “universes” publishers were cranking ouit in the ’90s, which titles I wish had been successes (i.e. still published ’til today) and what memories I had of these companies at the time.
I’ve already tacked Valiant and Ultraverse, and I know there are plenty more, but I’ve got to move on to other stuff. But you never know, I may come back to this topic when you least expect it.
But to wrap things up, for now, let’s talk about Dark Horse’s superhero universe initiative, Comics’ Greatest World:
Launched in 1993 as a series of one-shots, each centered around a different character or team. Y’know, like the one above, which is where the character Ghost first appeared. The one-shots themselves were released in themed sets, after a fashion, with characters attached to four different locations across the U.S., represented by a symbol on the cover. Like, some of the books would be tied to Steel Harbor, others to Arcadia, and so on. That “scales of justice” with the anti-sign over it on the Ghost cover? That represents Arcadia.
Anyway, I don’t know how much attention fans paid to that region-specific distinction. As I recall, customers either just bought all of the CGW books, didn’t buy any at all, or just bought one or two, like Ghost because Adam Hughes did the art. I seem to recall these one-shots selling…okay, not great. It was just too much all at once with too many new characters that didn’t grab a lot of interest.
Didn’t stop Dark Horse from continuing to push it along, with attempts at ongoing series and mini-series spinning out of this initial launch. Ghost was relatively popular at our shop from the get-go, particularly with the Adam Hughes boost when he was on the book, and I feel like this is the one I wished had continued on ’til today. I mean, she sorta has, having had a mini within the last ten years, so they’re still trying with her. But it ran for quite a few issues in the mid to late ’80s, making this probably the most successful comic of the bunch.
Another title I wish was still around was Barb Wire:
…which…yes, I know, the Pamela Anderson movie, yuck, but it’s probably because of that movie folks even remember Barb Wire today. I know they tried another Barb Wire series a few years back, but it’d be nice to have it back on the stands. Folks seem to have a soft spot for it.
X is another title that had a following at our shop:
…both the initial series, and this revival series that ended about a decade ago. This Punisher-esque vigilante character still had a little bit of a following around here.
So there. you go, those are the three properties from Comics’ Greatest World I wished had been successful enough to continue non-stop from the get-go, no relaunches required. (To be fair, they did come close.) Or, maybe, a series of mini-series, one or two a year, Hellboy-style. That would have been nice. Just this little circle of books in a shared universe that might have been the focal point for future spin-offs and crossovers with other CGW characters.
This isn’t a fair assessment, I realize, since I’ve not read the majority of the comics under the Comics’ Greatest World banner. I mean, I don’t know, The Machine could’ve been good, but I suppose there is no way for us to ever know. And some of the above comics I singled out had been revived within the last decade, but departed fairly quickly.
This brings us back to the post were this all started, where I relate how I saw the Comics’ Greatest World on the cover of Diamond Previews and wondered how anyone could afford all these. Which really is the most prominent memory I have of this influx of new publishers and imprints at the time. So many companies just desperate for attention in a marketplace that had recently explosvely shrunk and wasn’t getting much larger.
Okay, that’s enough on the topic for now, and I’ll try to get back to it later in the month if interest warrants. And I’m sure I’ll see something in the comments sections that I’ll want to address. But ’til then, thanks for reading all this, and I should be back Wednesday with more typing on a different topic.
First order of business: get me your 2026 comic industry predictions! Read the rules, then submit! SUBMIT, I tell you.
Next, back to Isaac P.’s question about ’90s comic publishers. Specifically:
“Is there one of these [oublishers/imprints] that you, as a reader, wish had been a success? Alternatively, are there any particular memories of this era that stick out to you from the sales side of things?”
Well, one I would have liked to see stick around is the Ultraverse line from Malibu, later purchased by Marvel Comics:
Yup, that’s Sludge there, Steve Gerber’s attempt at doing a new variation on the Swamp Thing/Man-Thing formula. Haven’t read it in a while, but I remember enjoying it, because, hey, Gerber writing a man-monster comic, of course I’d like it. (The initial artist of the book, Aaron Lopresti, would occasionally plot an issue and there are a couple he outright wrote himself.)
Anyway, I would have liked to have seen more of that book. And most of the Ultraverse in general. (Prime, a Shazam!-esque comic about a young man who can turn into a grotesquely-overmuscled adult hero, was one I enjoyed, until it turned out one of its original writers was a sex offender, tainting that particular property for all time.) But other books had their followings, like Mantra (an immortal male warrior reincarnated into the body of a woman), Rune (an evil demonic entity that got up to plenty of trouble, early issues written and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith), Firearm (a non-superpowered private detective)…all quite popular at the time. And I know I’m leaving out your favorite, sorry.
Now, of the ’90s imprints that came and went, it would seem like Ultraverse would be the one that had at least one foot in the door for a full revival. The publisher was purchased by Marvel Comics, and for a time, there were several crossovers between the Marvel Universe and the Ultraverse. But, eventually, the Ultraverse characters just stopped appearing, even though Marvel still owns them.
There’s no official reason given, and there’s a whole section on the Wikipedia page about the current status of those properties. Revivals were planned and discarded, and it’s been suggested that the line’s former publisher maintains business interests in the Ultraverse titles, which I guess put the kibosh on any relaunches.
It’s a shame those titles can’t be revived or reprinted, at least at this time, as there was a lot of good work in there. I already mentioned Windsor-Smith, but there was a whole of of George Pérez in there, too. Ah, well, it’s just (maybe) a bunch of legal red tape, maybe it’ll get unknotted someday and we can see these books again.
One particular memory I have from the ’90s was when one of the Ultraverse writers happened to come to our store to do a little shopping. Now, back then, we did a lot of business in recent back issues, and we had several boxes of Ultraverse backstock marked and shelves in the back room, just visible through one of the doorways into that back area. The writer happened to spot those boxes and mentioned to his friend (but within my earshot, which I don’t think he realized) “oh, they’re never going to sell those.”
Well, ha HA mister, we did sell all of those! Eventually. In the 2000s. In a bulk sale for about a dime apiece. BUT WE SOLD THEM.
Anyway, Ultraverse…I think it would have been okay if it kept going. Maybe not even as its own standalone thing, but just fully integrated into the Marvel Universe like they were trying to do. I mean, 30+ years of Firearm comics? C’mon, that would’ve been pretty cool. And Rune, maybe not as his own standalone title, but as one of the many wildly-powered adversaries who menaces our heroes on a regular basis. He could have been the Big Bad in a series of Marvel movies by now. Brings a tear to one’s eye.
Next ’90s company/imprint to discuss: oh, what the heck, let’s talk about Comics’ Greatest World, even though I’ve read, like, almost none of it. But I’ll give it a shot in a few days.
So when we last met, I was looking at an inquiry from Isaac P. regarding the 1990s New Superhero Universe Explosion. One of his questions was “do you wish any of them had been a success?” vis-à-vis my comics fandom (as opposed to being a comics retailer).
Well, in a way, most of them were successes, at least briefly, in that many comics from that period of the industry managed to pull in some numbers. I remember specifically Valiant Comics having a slow start with us, as Harbinger #1 showed up and I don’t think we sold a single copy.
That quickly changed as Wizard Magazine got on board the Valiant/hot comics train for whatever reason, and suddenly all Valiants were suddenly in demand. (At least until Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1 came out, but you don’t need me to write about that again.)
Now, for Isaac’s use of the term “success,” I’m going to presume “continuing to publish past the ’90s boom/crash and perhaps even ’til today” as the definition of the term, instead of the short-term windfalls these companies acquired. And while there are still Valiant titles being published today, it is not the same company it once was. It’s changed owners, titles have been relaunched and rebooted, so on and so forth.
The Valiant I’m thinking of, the era where I believe it was the best it had ever been, was its initial superhero universe from the early 1990s. X-O Manowar, Shadowman, the aforementioned Harbinger, and titles featuring licensed characters as part of their shared universe, Solar Man of the Atom and Magnus Robot Fighter (and eventually Turok, yes, yes). This was overseen, and some titles written by, former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, and everything wove together more or less smoothly and it was all a lot of fun.
Once Shooter left Valiant, and more and more titles started to be added, it became a little more difficult for most readers to stay immersed in the entirety of this superhero universe. I didn’t much care for how things went post-Shooter, but Your Mileage May Vary, of course.
But I think of all the new shared universes that popped up in ’90s, I wish that early period of Valiant had been able to continue on ’til today, without all the reboots/relaunches/changes in ownership, and still including the licensed books as part of the whole (as most of those moved on to other publishers after the first iteration of Valiant ended).
And I know people have soft spots for some of the later 1990s Valiant books, like Second Life of Dr. Mirage, Bloodshot and Quantum and Woody, so…what the hell, let’s keep them around, too.
I don’t mean to disparage any work being done on Valiant properties currently (except the anti-trans horseshit in that Bloodshot book, off to the sea with that garbage). I’m mostly just waxing nostalgic for a period of that company’s publishing endeavors that kept me entertained and invested as a fan, not just as a guy slinging comics from behind the counter.
Anyway, remember when I said this was going to be a two-part answer to Isaac’s question? With today being part two? Well, I lied, I guess, because I’ll continue on with Ultraverse Comics in the next installment. I may have other stuff posted in the meantime, like the long-awaited new entry in the Final ’90s Countdown. But I’ll come back to it in short order, Isaac, honest!
Isaac P. wants to know
“I’m fascinated by the ‘every publisher launches a superhero universe’ era of the 90’s that brought us the Ultraverse, Comics Greatest World, & the like. Is there one of these that you, as a reader, wish had been a success? Alternatively, are there any particular memories of this era that stick out to you from the sales side of things?”
I will tell you the one big memory I have of this particular period in the comics industry history. It’s probably one I’ve mentioned before, but it’s well worth repeating.
I very strongly recall getting in the new copy of the Diamond Previews catalog, which features Dark Horse’s “Comics’ Greatest World” on the cover, ballyhooing the arrival of A New Superhero Universe™!
Courtesy the folks over at the Longbox Heroes podcast, here is a scan of that Previews cover from April 1993:
And as you may be able to see, there’s a split down the center, where you could swing open those parts of the cover and reveal the Comics’ Greatest World gang lurking within:
Which is all well and good, but 30+ years later, I can still remember the thoughts I had upon seeing this cover. I thought about all the other Superhero Universes and such that were coming into existence around this time, and I thought of Dark Horse’s entry into that already-burgeoning playing field, and I wondered “how do they expect comic readers to pay for all these New Universes?”
And that was the real problem. Here’s Valiant, here’s Ultraverse, here’s Comics’ Greatest World, here’s…I don’t know, Triumphant, here’s that other shared superhero universe Malibu was doing aside from Ultraverse, and then there’s DC and Marvel of course, and probably more I’m not thinking of at the moment.
It was just too much…new comic readers weren’t suddenly going to appear from nowhere to read all these comics, especially during a market downturn. The fans that already comprised comic book readership were either going to have to cough up more money to buy additional books, or they’d have to drop other books to make room for some of these new titles. It wasn’t a huge growth move for the industry, it was more a lateral move.
You know how there was a huge push to make shared universe movies after Marvel’s success with that strategy, only for several studios to find out that it wasn’t quite as easy as all that? (And that even Marvel isn’t finding it so easy lately?) What’s going on in the comic book industry about this time is sort of similar to that, except 1) publishers had a slightly better hit rate, and 2) there was a whole lot less money at stake.
The rise and fall of the Superhero Universe in comics was enough of a thing for the Overstreet Price Guide to release a side-guide a few years back, the Overstreet Price Guide to Lost Universes. And as you can see at the link, it doesn’t just concern itself with ’90s efforts, as it includes the ’70s Seaboard/Atlas books…though, were they in a shared universe? I can’t recall any crossovers there. Anyway, I think I actually grabbed a copy of this for myself, so I’m going to try to dig that out and give it a once-through before I continue here.
Yes indeedy, this is going to be a two-parter, at least. I kinda want to spend some time with some of these departed Universes and not rush through ’em at the end of this post, so I hope you forgive the cliffhanger.
So Smichal smasks
“How do kids factor in as a demographic at your shop? Is it bigger/smaller than in the past? What are they buying? Do they stay invested in the medium, or is it a passing interest?
For argument’s sake, lets define kids as 16 and under for this question.”
Well, sure, I actually get lots of kids coming through the store, largely due to my location. My store is located in a strip of stores that includes a couple of restaurants, a popular pizza place, a music store/school/venue, and one tiny storefront at the end that seems to be used as a storage area for some other business, but that’s perhaps a tale for another day.
Anyway, with all these schools and restaurants and pizzas, I get a lot of walk-in traffic, particularly from families with children. And thus, I have sort of a captive audience here, with parents unwittingly passing by on their way to eat, when their children spot my store and start shouting “LOOK, COMICS!” and the like.
In that way, I’m very fortunate. I know at the previous place of employment, we were down the road from a high school, and we’d get a lot of foot traffic when classes were out and kids were heading home. However, we weren’t surrounded by other locations that regularly brought in families with children — we had a dry cleaners, an optometrist, a tattoo parlor, a place that sold prosthetic limbs. I mean, yeah, sure, any of those places might cater to young folks (I mean, Junior’s gotta get himself inked sometime), but by and large it was the comics/games shop that was the sole attractor for families.
Now, back to my shop, what are those kids after at my store, anyway? I mean, yes, it’s a pretty good mix of just about everything. People have their ideas about what kids actually want from comic book stores, but I tell them “I had a little girl ask for and buy several Hulk comics” and those preconceived notions can just go right out the window.
But yes, some of it is What You Expect. My Little Pony, manga (especially One Piece right now), Dog Man (slowed down a bit since the movie), the Raina Telgemeier books, that sort of thing. And when it comes to the traditional comic book-type stuff, kids usually ask for Spider-Man or Batman. I get some very light interest from young folks in the Thundercats revival books, but just about every other ’60s-’80s cartoon-based comic book is For Grown-Ups Only. Simpsons comics would do incredibly well based on the demand I have for them from kids, but darned if Disney/Marvel/Whoever is leaving money on the table by not getting another comic for them out on the stands.
Along with comics, kids are also buying lots of the Little Golden Books, the thin illustrated storybook hardcovers for which I have a giant spinner rack by the door. That and the slowly dwindling supply of Funko Pops are what grabs children’s eyes and pulls them into the shop.
As for whether it’s more or less than in the past, all I can really say is that the percentage of kid clientele at my store is steadily increasing. How many are sticking with the hobby as they age…that’s hard to say. I know a handful of kids who have been coming into my shop since they were barely able to walk on their own, so at least some have maintained their interest.
David wants to know
“I’m really interested and intrigued by Usagi Yojimbo, but I’m overwhelmed by the number and variety of books that collect these stories. Given that money is not an issue, where should I start?”
Well, what you do is you find yourself a copy of Usagi’s first appearance from 1983, in Albedo Anthropomorphics #2 (pictured above), and just work forward from there.
…
…
…
…
…Well, okay, maybe that’s not quite workable. Albedo is notoriously small press, even by small press standards, and this comic being in low supply and enormous demand…well, you did say “money is not an issue.” Currently a copy can be found on eBay for $6,400, or another in one of those “professionally graded” plastic boxes for $46,000 — good news, shipping is free in both cases.
But presumably you don’t want to be messing around with single issues. That said, as someone who personally hasn’t read every Usagi Yojimbo comic that’s ever been published, it’s been my experience that these comics are highly accessible to new readers. Yes, characters have a history and there’s a measure of continuity to the proceedings, but anyone just coming aboard is given all the info they need to follow along, if necessary. So, basically, you can just jump on with the next Usagi mini-series that comes out.
Again, though, if you don’t feel like doing the single issue thing, there are no shortage of reprint collections to get you started. And because of the very nature of Usagi stories, you can probably start pretty much anywhere and you’ll be fine. I realize there are a lot of books, and that not all of them are in print at all times. There are 41 of the smaller trade paperbacks, 33 of which are collected into the Omnibus Editions from Dark Horse, and there are several other books aside from that run. This section of the Wikipedia entry details what’s in each book, if that helps.
The honest answer would be “just pick up the collections as you find them.” The phrase “boy, this issue of Usagi Yojimbo sucked” has never been uttered by a human being, and therefore you’re good wherever you start.
The only advice I’d give is maybe read the classic feudal Japan era of Usagi, before diving into spin-offs like Space Usagi, or maybe even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers. But then again, tons of kids were introduced to Usagi Yojimbo via the TMNT cartoon in the ’80s and that worked out okay, so what do I know.
So anyway, David, that’s a lot of reading, so you better get crackin’. There’s gonna be a quiz next week.
So Bob dares to asks
“What are your Top 5 ‘desert island’ books/storylines? (or alternatively ‘dessert island’)”
Well, that’s certainly a doozy, especially since my opinions can change from moment to moment. And I’ll leave out the obvious ones…you know, your Dark Knight Returns, or your Watchmens, or your All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonders, and try to stick to more unusual, personal ones. And I’ll try to stick to particular storylines or very specific “eras” of books, instead of just saying, like, “every issue of Firestorm the Nuclear Man.” Which I totally could say.
Okay, first up, to the surprise of no one:
…the “American Gothic” Swamp Thing storyline that began in the 1980s and ran through issue #50. Written by Alan Moore, art by Steve Bissette, John Totleben, and several others, Swamp Thing traveled from location to location being pushed along by John Constantine to confront various pockets of supernatural horror, all to count the machinations of a secret society trying to bring about the End of the World, as they do.
It’s a great series of issues, and a nice reprise of what Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson were doing in the original Swamp Thing series, by having our mossy gentleman encountering traditional horror archetypes and giving them unusual twists. This storyline contains a lot of what I love about Swamp Thing, and thus must join me in my solitude on this theoretic deserted island.
Next up:
…the black and white era of Zot! by Scott McCloud, published in the 1980s. I was going to say just the “Earth Stories” (the storyline where Zot is trapped on his friend Jenny’s “normal” Earth and unable to return to his “futuristic” Earth), but so much of the b&w era contains the same emotional depth. Having the adventures in Zot’s world contrast with his life in Jenny’s world help inform Zot’s behavior in the latter circumstance. Plus, all the black and white work is beautiful.
Number three:
…yes, the Omega Men. Specifically, the wild shit after Todd Klein and Shawn McManus took over in #26 (1985) and continued to the end of the series in #38. Honestly, for what was DC’s then-newest attempt at Superheroes in Space, just absolute piles of imagination was shoveled into this comic, which is probably the least appealing way I could have put that. Odd aliens, strange mysteries, even stranger revelations…it was a real roller coaster of a ride and too beautiful for this world, cancelled so early as it was.
Number four:
…I’ve talked a lot about where things kinda ended up with this series and its creator, and I realize this may be hard to believe for some of you out there…but the “High Society storyline in Cerebus is Peak Comics. It is absolutely a masterclass in How to Tell Your Story in a Comic Book, and it’s a flabbergasting achievement. It’s a story about Cerebus becoming Prime Minister of the city of Iest, and if you know anything about Cerebus the character, you realize that can’t possibly go well. It’s both dramatic and hilarious and a fascinating read.
And for number five:
…the first twelve issues of American Flagg! by Howard Chaykin. Dense, experimental storytelling that remains rewarding with each reread, something that I’d imagine would be quite valuable being stuck on a deserted island as I am in this scenario. In a recent discussion about this comic on the Blueskies, I referred to these first dozen issues as being “as good as it ever got,” and in retrospect that sounds a little diminishing, but these are actually excellent comics.
• • •
Now that’s just off the top of my head right now. I realize I didn’t include any
Love and Rockets because by golly how do I narrow that down to just a single storyline? (Or two storylines, one for each brother?) Or
Groo the Wanderer, where I’d just as soon take every copy with me. Anyway, I’ll save further answers along those lines for the “which comic book series would you take in their entirety to a deserted island?” question.
Oh, and if I were to go to a dessert island, I would have fudge cake topped with chocolate syrup, served with rocky road ice cream. That would wreak havoc with my blood sugar levels, absolutely, but what a way to go!
Back to more of your questions, and here’s Wayne with
“If Element Woman and Ultra the Multi-Alien had a child, well, what’s it going to look like, past an electric leg. That was a silly question, I know.”
Okay, here we have the Element Girl, or Woman, on this classic 1960s cover:
And here we have that poor bastard, Ultra, the Multi-Alien, his body sectioned off into four alien body types after being zapped by ray guns held by those four particular races…am I remembering that right?
Anyway, presuming Ultra can still father kids with his Four Corners Monument private area, I’m going to presume any resultant children are going to look like the Autons from Doctor Who:
And wait? What’s this? A second question? Here in the streets of Gotham?
Well, okay, I’ll let it slide this time.
“I’ve really enjoyed many of the Black Label books by Tom King. I doubt we’ll see Ultra….”
I can see some kind of body horror thing coming out of the Ultra concept, each segment of Ultra’s body fighting for control against the original human mind to whom this body belonged. (Or perhaps Ultra can come across other aliens from these species, one of which has a regular human leg on his electric body, etc. — even though I think a version of this was done in the old “Claw the Unconquered” back-ups from Warlord). I don’t know if this kind of story is in Tom King’s wheelhouse, particularly, but I can see something like this happening.
“As long as it isn’t the main heroes, this could be for anyone. some WildStorm books like The Authority or Gen13.Dial H, Heroes in Love? Better or worse, King can do something with obscurity, for anyone who liked Danger Street. And one of my favorite books ever is THE HUMAN TARGET?”
Of those examples, it feels like Gen 13 may be the most likely prospect for a Tom Kingenning. Authority I feel like is hovering around a full relaunch sometime soon, depending on whether or not it makes it into the DCU Gunniverse (current “not” at the moment, I believe). Dial H was already the subject of a recent-ish and well-regarded relaunch, even if it’s kind of forgotten now, and a Young Heroes in Love that isn’t by the original creators would face some resistance.
Gen 13 is one of those titles that went through a few hands post its creators’ involvement, and has been kind of a defunct property for a while now, though individual characters have popped up here and there. Again, this depends on DC’s intentions with the property…if they think they can still relaunch Gen 13 as a viable ongoing, that’s one thing. If they think it’s a moribund property and they might as well hand it to Tom King to do his thing to it, then there we go. I feel like DC may feel like there’s life in this old property yet, so they’d probably hold off sending it into the woodchipper, as it were.
DC itself has no shortage of abandoned or forgotten properties that might get a wild new reworking from King…I mean, I just mentioned Claw the Unconquered. Or The Wanderers, or even like Young All-Stars, which would probably give Roy Thomas conniptions admittedly.
Granted, King did do Mister Miracle, which didn’t destroy Scott Free for all time, and…well, I think the jury’s still out on Adam Strange. But if you want something like Danger Street, then there’s enough in DC library to keep this sort of thing going, assuming King wants to do that.
Okay, one more brief post on Alistair’s question regarding licensed comics and the relationship between “official-ness” and fan acceptance. (Here’s post #1 and post #2.)
First off, Chris V has some several points to make about the various iterations of the X-Files comic, and I can’t really argue with any of it, so I’m just going to direct you there.
I’d written about the X-Files comics before (here and here…and look, there’s Chris V again in that second link!) As I recall, at the old shop we drastically underestimated the popularity of the first X-Files comic from Topps, so we were caught flat-footed by the demand for it…hence the proliferation of reprints and the then-soaring prices, long since dissipated, in the collectors’ market.
Also in that second link, the one with the ubiquitous Chris V, I touch upon the topic currently at hand, whether a licensed comic performs better if it’s explicitly part of official continuity. That post sorta supports Chris V’s comment from my Wednesday entry, in which he suggests that the X-Files comics were better off when they didn’t tie into the shows themselves. Of course, the example I’m using is the actual adaptations of episodes Topps produced, and Chris V also provides all the extenuating circumstances as to why sales where how they are.
Now, onto the stuff I wanted to mention today, which I’ll keep brief: licensed comic books based on animated cartoons/movies. For these, it would seem that fidelity of the tie-in to the original, at least visually, would be paramount. Or, at least close enough given the stylistic flourishes of the artists involved.
For example, I mentioned the other day that early in the production of Simpsons comics, there was one where the artwork was just…askew a little bit, and off-putting. Someone was attempting the house style, got close, but not close enough, and it made the book hard to look at.
Now, eventually we would see some artistic variety in the Simpsons comics, particularly in the Treehouse of Horror anthologies (where just about anything goes) or with Sergio Aragaones’ various contributions. Those, of course, aren’t off-putting…those are artists just drawing the Simpsons characters in their own way, adapting the house style to their own. So…drawn perfectly: Yes. drawn just shy of perfectly: No. Drawn in a completely different art style by a talented artist but still recognizably Simpsons? Yes again.
But otherwise…the art is the (relaively speaking) easy part. Either it looks like what it’s adapting or it’s not. But the stories….
To be fair, I’m sure in most cases, for all licensed comics, someone representing the owner of the license is keeping an eye out, making sure Finn doesn’t behead the Ice King or something. So it’s really up to the reader…”does this comic book based on an animated presentation rightfully represent the original work?”
There are lots of changes from screen to page at times. Like, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote are suddenly very talkative in the comics, and Mr. Runner, who speaks in rhyme, apparently has three…sons? Nephews? Something like that. But it all still feels like the Road Runner somehow.
Tom and Jerry, that cat ‘n’ mouse duo, also find their voices in the comics…and it didn’t seem to bother anyone there since the comic ran for nearly 350 issues over several decades.
Let’s not forget the Disney comics, taking characters primarily known for comedic short films and putting them into lengthy adventure stories. (Maybe I’m forgetting a cartoon where, I don’t know, Goofy climbs the forbidden mountains and finds the Old Gods, but I think you get what I mean.)
And there are plenty of comics over the years where they seem to jibe with the source just fine. Adventure Time, Teen Titans Go, Ren and Stimpy Show more or less, I particularly liked that last one, least until the whole thing was tainted by the creator’s issues.
There’s also that new breed of licensed children comics, the Serious Adventure Take, which…well, okay, for a nominally sci-fi adventure like Thundercats, sure, but Your Mileage May Vary when the same is done to Space Ghost. (Which, I should mention, is very popular at my shop, and getting good notice, and I’m not trying to disparage it…just commenting on the distance between the mild camp of the cartoons and the current interpretation.)
End result is that things are a little less cut ‘n’ dried when it comes to the licensed animation comics. Completely faithful versions and new updated versions (Mark Russell’s Flintstones, anyone?) rise and fall on their own merits, regardless of fidelity to the property.
This was a quick overview, for which I apologize…got a late start Thursday evening. However, you’re welcome to contribute in the comments sections, as always, and maybe I can do a follow-up post in the near future. Thanks for reading, pals, and thanks to Alistair for the great questions!
I may have done my answer to Alistair last time a slight disservice. But first, let me get out of the way that my light joshing of the length of Alistair’s question was not intended as a critique, but more a way of poking a little fun at my own predilection for excessive typing — a gag that perhaps may have fallen flat. But I think anyone who’s read my site for any length of time knows that there was no danger of me not outstripping the word count of Alistair’s query.
But at any rate, Alistair had asked about comic books based on licensed properties, and my favorites thereof, and my answers at the end were mostly adaptations of specific films (like Close Encounters of the Third Kind) rather than ongoing series with continuing adventures based on various licenses (like Marvel’s initial Star Wars, which I’d mentioned).
Now I know I’m splitting hairs here that maybe only I can see, but given that Alistair’s initial question was about the faithfulness of (inferred) ongoing series based on said properties, I think I should have focused more on those ongoing series versus the direct film/TV show adaptations. Faithfulness in a specific translation of a film/episode to a comic should be slightly more expected, but the real trick is when the creators of the comics go off on their own taking inspiration from the licenses.
As such, let me note a couple of comic book series based on licensed properties that I enjoyed.
DC’s Star Trek, right from where they first got the rights in the ’80s, and up almost through the end in the ’90s. I got a little burnt out on these comics as their conclusion loomed, and while I did like the Next Generation comics too, I can happily skip over the introductory mini for it.
But likenesses were generally good, stories where very much in line with what you could potentially see in Trek live action (if said TV/movie Trek had an unlimited budget). About ten years ago I did write a bit about DC’s first Star Trek series about a decade ago, talking about how the comic cleverly dealt with Spock’s status quo between films III and IV.
Now there were plenty of Trek comics before and since…I never read much of the original Marvel run, or any of the Marvel books when they got the license back post-DC, and the original Gold Key comics I have read here and there, and it can be a real mixed bag. Every once in a while I’ll dip into IDW’s current Trek line if a story sounds interested, but the only one I read consistently is Lower Decks, which is of course great.
But those DC Treks…those are still some of my favorites. They absolutely felt like part of the same universe (most of the time, there’s a clunker or two). If you haven’t read them, they’re well worth tracking down.
DC’s Welcome Back, Kotter series had solid, easily-identifiable caricatures of the cast, stories that…well, were maybe a little outside the range of what you’d see on the show (I mean, there’s an elephant in this story), but Mark Evanier, who also worked on the show, was a contributing writer here as well. And hey, putting the characters in situations you wouldn’t necessarily see the actual actors do onscreen could have been a good selling point!
I’m cheating with this one a little, but I’ve unfortunately only read a very few of these Marvel mags, long ago, so I can’t say as to how well the human characters from the films translated to the page, if any did at all. But by golly, and the apes, chimpanzees, and orangutans looked the way they should, and that was good enough for me.
Oh, wait, I forgot I talked about Marvel’s color Apes comic, which reprinted from these magazines. It may have been short on exact likenesses, but it was definitely long on butts.
Now I haven’t cracked a cover on one of these since the comic ended, but I read ’em all so I must have liked them. Carmine Infantino (of Star Wars and probably some other comics fame) drew these, and as such everyone looked like Infantino characters…which isn’t a bad thing, don’t get me wrong! You knew who everyone was supposed to be, like I said about his work on Star Wars last time, and therefore he worked out fine.
I do not remember the timing of the comics vis-à-vis the mini-series or the TV series, so I don’t know how closely they tied in to events in those shows. None of these comics were direct adaptations of any of the live-action releases that I recall. I do want to direct you to the Comics Database so you can see how DC handled having a giant “V” on the front cover of each issue. Actually looks pretty striking.
• • •
Now my list here just covered comics based on live-action properties. I didn’t cover the translations-to-page of toys, cartoons, that sort of thing. The matter of “faithfulness” applies here as well, though one wonders if you can really just how closely the
Team America or
ROM Space Knight comics hew to their origins, and if any points of departure actually matter.
Plus, I do recall one early comic in the Simpsons line that was just barely on the wrong side of having a professional art job, and being just that little bit off was enough to make the whole thing unreadable. So, you know, there’s probably room for discussion here too.
But not in this entry…perhaps more on Friday? See, Alistair, by comparison to my answers, your question isn’t long at all!
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