Friday, July 31, 2009

Marvel Treasury Ads - 1976/1977

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New Ads! Courtesy Treasury Friend Josh Blair come these two Bullpen Bulletin ads for two of Marvel's treasury editions--Captain America's Bicentennial Battles and The Defenders!

Not having as many Marvel as DCs in my collection, I haven't had the chance to come across Marvel's ads for their treasuries, so I really appreciate Josh for finding them for me to put up on the site. Thanks Josh!


Saturday, July 25, 2009

Wednesday Comics #3 - 7/22/09

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New Addition! Week 3 of Wednesday Comics!

Wednesday Comics continues:

--Batman continues to be solid

--Kamandi is shaping up to be one of Wednesday Comics' highlights

--After a great first week, Superman seems to have hit a wall--he's spent the last two weeks kinda moping around

--Deadman is one of my favorites, with artist Heuck really using the format well

--Two Metamorpho one-panel strips in a row? Hmmm...

--Strange Adventures is simply superb

--Supergirl is a lot of fun--sleight, but fun, and a nice contrast to the other strips

--Metal Men continues to be great

--Hawkman still rocking. Bonus points--Hawkman vs. a giant alien monster! How can you beat that?

Reading these strips in this format is such a joy, its my comic-reading highlight of week. And the next one is less than a week away!


Wednesday Comics News

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News! At the San Diego Comic Con, via Newsarama comes this news about how Wednesday Comics might be collected as a trade:

1:23: Talk about how Wednesday Comics should be collected. DiDio wants it in the old, treasury-style format.

TreasuryComics.com agrees!


(h/t: Treasury Friend Brian Knippenberg)


Monday, July 20, 2009

DC Publishorial: Superman vs. Muhammad Ali

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New Ad! I found this full-page "Publishorial" from DC head honcho Jenette Kahn about the upcoming Battle of the Century--Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali--in an old issue of Super Friends.

Fairly unusual, a piece this length, but as we all know, the Superman/Ali book was a pretty big deal, both in and outside the world of comics.


Sunday, July 19, 2009

Wednesday Comics #2 - 7/15/09

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New Addition! Week 2 of Wednesday Comics!

Wednesday Comics continues:

--Batman was interesting, in that Batman doesn't actually appear!

--Kamandi continues to work well

--Green Lantern picks up speed, with Hal fighting the exact kind of jet-packed bad guys that I love to see him take on

--Metamorpho imagines itself inside a comic book universe that doesn't exist, but I wish it did!

--Strange Adventures continues to be excellent, a perfect combo of Paul Pope's style and the basic underpinnings of the character of Adam Strange

--Metal Men chugs along, as fun as the opening chapter indicated

--Flash Comics tells two stories simultaneously, perfect for the character

--Hawkman, even better than last week!

Reading these strips in this format is such a joy, its my comic-reading highlight of week. And the next one is less than a week away!


Saturday, July 18, 2009

Master Comics Ad - 1940

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New Ad! This amazing ad was sent to me by TreasuryFriend Rick Phillips, of an in-house ad Fawcett ran featuring big-time movie star Mickey Rooney reading (and from it looks like, enjoying) an issue of their Master Comics series.

But not just any issue of Master Comics, which ran for over thirteen years, but one of the uber-rare early, tabloid-sized issues (#3, to be exact), which is to me is just an amazing find. I wonder if Mickey still has this comic?

Thanks Rick!


Sunday, July 12, 2009

Wednesday Comics #1 - 7/8/09

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New Addition! Well, its finally here--the first issue of DC's Wednesday Comics!

I was so eagerly awaiting this series that I purposely didn't read it (which was tough!) until I had time today to sit down with a cool beverage and a quiet house, and open the book up to its full size and really appreciate what the series had to offer me.

First off: the art: its just gorgeous at this size, and it took me right back to those thrilling days of yore when as a kid I would read my treasury comics and simply be overwhelmed at the size of the pages.

I don't want to get bogged down in specific critiques of each strip, because as the format dictates, we're just getting started. But there were a few that jumped right off the page at me, and have the feeling of an insta-classic:

--Gibbons and Ryan Sook's Kamandi, which feels like a modern Prince Valiant (and the Kirby credit box is a wonderful touch--imagine what the King himself might have done in a series like this!)

--Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck's Deadman, which has a great pulpy feel, and works as a great contrast to the other more sci-fi-y strips

--Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred's Metamorpho, which already feels like it should accompanied by a soundtrack called Greatest Groovy Hits of the 60s

--Paul Pope's Strange Adventures, which, after just one page, makes me want DC to start a regular Adam Strange book and hand it over to Pope

--Dan Didio, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and Kevin Nowlan's Metal Men, which feels like those great comics I grew up with in the 70s

--Karl Kerschl and Brendan Fletcher's Flash Comics, which is a wonderful up-ending of the format--its two, two, two strips in one! (I wonder if the Allen's house number is 3G?)

--and Kyle Baker's Hawkman, which already feels like its shaping up to be one The Great Hawkman Stories

All in all, Wednesday Comics was everything I thought it was going to be--solid stories, fantastic art, all wrapped up in an exciting package. And the best part is, we only have to wait a week for the next issue!


Since there's never been an ongoing, over-sized comics series running during the existence of Treasury Comics.com, I never had to come up with some format to cover said series as it rolls along.

But now that we have one (thanks, Mark Chiarello!), I'm going to be posting a mini-review of each new issue the Sunday after it comes out. And when we get to the end, and all 12 issues are published, I'll add a permanent Wednesday Comics page to the site, where they can take their place alongside the classic DC treasuries we all know and love!


Thursday, July 2, 2009

Wednesday Comics Ad

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New Ad! This ad for Wednesday Comics is running in the DC Nation column for all of DC's September cover-dated books. Quite a line-up of characters and talent.

The series is just one week away!