The Super Heroes Monthly #8

I've just been so busy and exhausted with the new school year and all that. I've been reading comics and graphic novels. I've just been too (fill in the blank) to do any reviewing. I seem to have caught a break today.

From the U.K., I couldn't tell you where I found this magazine of black and white DC reprints. But I know that I didn't spend more than a buck on it. So I must have gotten this years ago at a Con and totally forgot about it.

There are 3 stories inside. First up is a reprinting of the very first appearance of the Barry Allen Flash. The Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert origin is forever imprinted in my mind. But I had forgotten that the first villain that the Fastest Man Alive takes on is known as the Turtle Man, the Slowest Man on Earth! Kinda comical. But it's a pairing that makes sense.

The Super Heroes Monthly had been running through the complete Man-Bat saga for several issues up to this point. In this issue featuring story by Frank Robbins and art by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, the Man-Bat takes a bride.

I've either previously read, own a copy or both when it came to both stories. Had I bothered to check the contents of this book whenever I bought it, I probably would have passed over it. At least the third and final story was one that I never read before. It stars Superman featuring Len Wein on scripts and art by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson; which in itself is an all-star crew. Unfortunately, it's a Man of Steel story that isn't really good.

The premise to this tale has an intriguing beginning. Lex Luthor laments the disappearance of the entire population of Earth. In his latest attempt to destroy the Man of Steel, Luthor's robotic assassin overheats, causing the nuclear core to meltdown and wipe out not just Superman, but everyone and everything on the planet. Birds, snakes and all!

When we learn what the MacGuffin behind the disappearances really details, the explanation is so implausible, it really lowered the quality of the story. I know that a lot of Superman stories stunk up news stands and comic collections during the 70s. If we were to place this story on the list, and believe me, I am, then 'The Man Who Murdered the Earth' has be the durian of all Superman tales from 1970-79!

I love the Alan Craddock cover of Superman and the Flash attempting to outrace a speeding locomotive. It is what enticed me to buy this book. But the fact that I already have 2/3 of the stories contained within and I hate that last one, this issue is going to be taken in for hopefully a little bit of trade credit instead of taking up valuable shelf space.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Monster Fun Christmas Special 2022

Rebellion's revival of the classic 1970s UK horror humor title celebrates the season of giving. From 2022, if this feels like a British version of The Nightmare Before Christmas, you'd be right. Here you've got vampires, devils and Frankenstein's monster taking part in Christmas festivities.

Not every segment was Christmas themed. The android Steel Commando story was a continuation from the previous issue. Since it was playing off a cliffhanger, I was okay that it wasn't a set during the holidays. However, the Leopard From Lime Street was working off of a continuous plotline and they managed to celebrate Christmas. True, the amount of Christmas detrimental to the plotline was about as debatable to if Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not.

The main title of this book is Monster Fun and I had a lot of fun reading this tabloid sized read. Despite being heavy on creatures of the night, there's a healthy dose of Santa Claus. Being a British comic, I was surprised that Krampus only appears in 1 story. As for the primary punchline, it was Brussel sprouts! I didn't realize until after reading this issue and later doing some research, but Brussels are an English Christmas dinner staple. But why all the hate? The once hated vegetable has undergone a revolution in the States. I wonder if the Brussels across the pond haven't been hybridized to remove their bitterness...

I didn't plan it, but my holiday readings for this year have been very heavy on books from Europe. Since it's turning out this way, I'm getting a pretty good idea of what titles are on task for my upcoming 2024 Christmas comic book reads. If anything, I got inspiration as well as a few laughs out of this international read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Super Heroes Monthly #3

I remember exactly when I bought this. Earlier this year, I was at my favorite comic shop. I had just finished buying some new release stuff I had ordered when I saw it. The book hadn't been put out yet. It was on top of a pile of things to be bagged, boarded and priced. But from the cover, I was enticed. I had to have it!

The book was actually a magazine from the U.K.. Filled with holiday reprints from DC Comics America, I was fairly certain that I already had copies of all 3 stories. But because of that Bryan Talbot cover and the title's exotic nature, I needed this as part of my Christmas comic book collection.

The cover reminds me of that scene from the beginning of Lethal Weapon where we first meet Mel Gibson character of Riggs... or is it Murtaugh? Anyways, the character is working undercover at a Christmas tree lot trying to weed out drug dealers. With Batman standing over the body of one of Santa's helpers in the middle of a tree lot with guns pointed at the Dark Knight, I feel like this is what would have occurred if the first Lethal Weapon film took place in Gotham instead of L.A..

The 3 tales inside are classics. Batman investigates the appearance of a boat owned by an underworld kingpin and stumbles upon a Christmas Eve theft at a local department store. Paul Levitz pens a tale set a thousand years in the future with Superboy invited to spend Christmas with the Legion of Superheroes. Lastly, Len Wein crafts a murder mystery where the Justice League of America investigate the killing of a man playing Santa Claus. Guest starring John Stewart subbing in for an injured Gal Jordan, the investigation turns into a race against time when the mysterious killer reveals in clues that he's set a bomb somewhere in the United States at the stroke of midnight!

Like I said, I've read all 3 stories before. I don't think I own any of them in their original formats. But over the years I've managed to collect them in reprint form. A fascinating glimpse of British comic books published by DC Comics in 1981. Since nothing over the pond seems to ever be issued first run or even in chronological order, I don't think I could live permanently in the UK and be a comic book collector with any sort of sanity.

A great time capsule. My only problem, it's oversized, like a tabloid,and I don't have a comic book box that will fit it. So where am I going to store it???

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 185

    For today's look at 1977, I'm examining something that didn't happen exactly 40 years ago today. But it did happen in my birth year!

     I was scrolling down my Facebook feed when I saw something interesting from one of the pages I am a member of. The group is called Pop Culture in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It's a public group. For someone like myself who is a student of pop culture- it's a great nostalgic site.

Apparently, the company delivered your TVs
in cherry red gremlins...

     Well, someone posted a commercial from '77 for a service I had never heard of: TV rental! I've head of services where you could rent out your entire home, like rent-a-center. But a company that only rented out TVs?! How was this economically feasible? A very short answer is that the service was British.

In the UK, the athlete to win
Player of the Year received a year's subscription
from Granada as their reward!

      The name of this company is called Granada (originally Red Arrow.) Apparently in the 1950s, the only way to get a TV set in the UK was you had to rent them. I guess since the government owns the broadcast stations (The BBC), this was how you had to get a TV. Actually, the same applied for radios starting in the 1930s and eventually morphed to TVs. Later on, Granada was also where you rented your VCR, DVD, and video gaming systems.

     Granada went over the pond in the 60s to Canada and trickled down to some Northern states. But it didn't get popular enough in the US to come South to states like North Carolina. However, this idea did become popular enough to inspire those rent-a-center like companies.

Granada's current logo.

      Now I know the concept of having to rent a TV through government agents might seem odd to you. But until I was 5 or 6, I remember having to go to the Ma Bell at the mall in order to get your phone. Back then you had only 3 choices: the black phone, the red one, or the Mickey Mouse version. No Kidding! Plus, living in North Carolina, we can't just go to the Citgo to buy hard alcohol. We have to go to ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) stores, run by the state to purchase whiskey, vodka, and other spirits. 

I always wanted one of these.
But, Nooooooo! We had to get the day-glow yellow model.

   Well, that's my look at 1977 for today. Before I go, here's the TV commercial from 1977 that inspired the article. Enjoy: