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Brainiac On Banjo: Thumbs In Your Hot Dog

Brainiac On Banjo: Thumbs In Your Hot Dog

Posted on by Mike Gold

“Would you have mansions of gold in the sky… and live in a shack, way in the back? Would you have wings up in heaven to fly… and starve here with rags on your back?” From There is Power in a Union, written by Joe Hill.

“We are the workers that make Dark Horse a home to the unique comics, creators, and creative principles known around the world.” From the statement issued last week by the Dark Horse Workers United (DHWU).

Forty years ago comics store owner Mike Richardson decided to take some of the loot that passed through his cash registers and start up a comic book company (Dark Horse Comics). It was the thing to do in the Eighties, but Richardson became the guy who actually pulled it off.

By 1986, most of the so-called independent publishers were coughing up blood and the distribution system looked like it was designed by M.C. Escher after he took LSD. They say timing is everything, but there might not have been a worse time to enter the racket since the paper shortages of World War II.

But Mike did it right, and of the American publishers alive at that time Mike was the only new guy to make it. He did so at a time when Marvel Comics and, particularly, DC Comics were booming. They controlled about three-quarters of the market at the time. Archie Comics was still on the stands, but that was the year Charlton went blooie. Harvey Comics was still around, kind of, flickering in and out of business while changing hands a couple times. They finally gave up the ghosts in 2003. Fun fact: what’s left of Harvey is now owned by NBC/Universal.

Screenshot

So much for ancient history. Richardson slowly expanded the company into film and television production, bringing Dark Horse published properties such as Hellboy and The Mask to screens large and small — as well as a really solid documentary about Don Rickles. Don briefly was also a comic book character.

In March of 2022, Mike decided he had enough of tending to the tubes and wires of industry and he sold the operation to video game holding company Embracer Group, retaining (as is common) his positions as publisher and CEO. He was fired four years later — for the math-challenged, that’s nearly three months ago. Jay Komas became the interim CEO. I believe Mike was the longest-serving publisher in American comics history.

So it goes. As Jack Kirby said, “Comics will break your heart.” Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Thumbs In Your Hot Dog” →

Brainiac On Banjo: “What Fools These Mortals Be!”

Brainiac On Banjo: “What Fools These Mortals Be!”

Posted on by Mike Gold

“They hurt you at home and they hit you at school. They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool ’til you’re so fucking crazy you can’t follow their rules.” From Working Class Hero, written by John Lennon.

I am not a fan of corporate bureaucracy. It is always counter-productive. It is the enemy of creativity and productivity. Sadly, it also is as predictable as a coal miner’s cough.

There are few folks operating in the comics racket more deserving of praise and acknowledgement than Mike Richardson, co-founder and publisher, until last week, of Dark Horse Comics. He was publisher for FORTY years, which might very well be the American record. Marvel/Timely/Atlas founder Martin Goodman held his gig for only a third of a century, and whereas Bill Gaines was the publisher at EC Comics and Mad Magazine for forty-five years. I’ll leave it to those with an attention span longer than mine to determine if that makes him the longest-lived comic book publisher or just a magazine publisher with a bottomless sense of humor and a terrific appreciation of line art.

A whole slew of us started making and distributing new comic books back in the early 1980s — a time when there was Marvel and DC and Archie and Paragon… and damn little else. Great old stalwarts such as Gold Key (Whitman), Harvey and Charlton already had gone blooie at least once or, if extant, were coughing up blood. But back then the comic book store had become a real thing and publishers, old and new, could sell their wares directly to those outlets without having to take returns on unsold copies. DC Comics’ honcho Paul Levitz once stated that you’d have to be a fool to screw that up. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: “What Fools These Mortals Be!”” →

Brainiac On Banjo: The Ghost Who Walks vs The Jerk That Talks!

Brainiac On Banjo: The Ghost Who Walks vs The Jerk That Talks!

Posted on by Mike Gold

“I’m way too close to the edge. Who’s the monster under my bed? Six feet under. World shakes like thunder. All the noises in my brain — it’s a pain I can’t explain when it just gets louder. Yeah, it just gets harder.” From Phantom, by WayV.

I first encountered “The Ghost Who Walks” in 1959, when American comics were still on the edge of the superhero desert. DC, Marvel/Atlas/Timely, and Archie Comics were dipping a toe or two into the caped waters, but at that moment all we had were Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and a handful of extremely short back-up stories. Yes, I just blew-off Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow. Things were about to change — The Flash had made several appearances in the bi-monthly Showcase comics and had just received his own title.

I had just turned nine, the target audience for superhero comics at the time. On the rare occasion I’d stumble across a “new” cape, I would completely lose my shit. This was my reaction to the release of Harvey Hits Magazine #26 starring The Phantom, a guy running around Africa with lions and wolves and a very tolerant girl friend. Because I was a little kid, I didn’t realize his occasional Showcase-like appearances also were geared towards the jungle comics market. It didn’t matter. I was hooked. And I was pissed that I’d have to wait nearly a year for this purple man’s next Harvey appearance. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: The Ghost Who Walks vs The Jerk That Talks!” →

With Further Ado #222: Casper and the Sequential Crush Podcast

With Further Ado #222: Casper and the Sequential Crush Podcast

Posted on by Ed Catto

I love Halloween. I bet that many folks who read this column love Halloween too. But one of the downsides to this glorious, spooky celebration is how pop culture, television stations and retailers all seem to lurch to the next holiday season so quickly after Halloween’s last trick or treat.

In Adweek – you didn’t think I only read comics, did you – they’ve already started their analysis of holiday themed TV commercials. (I will admit, the Katy Perry+LEGO tv spot does look like fun!)

So, with that in mind, shall we drag out Halloween just a little bit longer?

Casper Instead of Candy

We’re one of the families that give out comics instead of candy to trick-or-treaters. Most of the comics we give away are current or recent comics. But I rescued a few old Harvey Comics from a bargain box and thought some kid might enjoy them. Harvey’s Casper, the Friendly Ghost #75 was from November 1964, and I thought it was charming on so many levels. Continue reading “With Further Ado #222: Casper and the Sequential Crush Podcast” →

Brainiac On Banjo: How Many Batmans Does It Take To Screw Up A Catalog?

Posted on by Mike Gold

BATMAN. Don’t stop dancin’. Do it, do it, do it, do it. BATMAN, BATMAN, BATMAN. Don’t stop, don’t stop. Let’s do it. Don’t stop dancin’. Let’s do it, BATMAN. Let’s do it, BATMAN. Don’t stop dancin’. Don’t stop dancin’. No, damn it! Turn the music back up! You son of a bitch! – Batdance, written by Prince, 1989.

Between 1960 and 1993, Harvey Comics published (I could have ended the sentence right there) some 48 different Richie Rich titles. Screw Casper and Hot Stuff, Richie was the big breadwinner in the Harvey household. Whereas I’ve got way too short an attention span to plot this out on a spreadsheet, a great great many were released at the same time, over the same two-month publishing cycle.

Pumping out Richie stories was a tonnage operation because Richie Rich was that successful. It’s not as though most titles had an aura of individuality – aside from Richie Rich and Casper; that series was a lot of fun and, for that matter, pretty weird. Harvey Comics published whatever the newsstand market could bare at that time. I highly doubt anybody at Harvey ever said “Shit! Richie Rich $ucce$$ isn’t selling, so let’s hurry up and replace it with Richie Rich Gems.”

Artist Frank Brunner once quipped they needed a title called “Richie Rich’s Tax Shelters.”

Which brings us to the matter of Batman.

Take a look at DC’s product catalog for January 2022. The catalog is called DC Connect and it’s available at most comics shops and maybe your more refined pet shops and hardware stores. Count the number of different Batman titles. I’m including all the titles that prominently feature members of the Batman Family – including The Joker. Each of their Batteam books – Robins, Batgirls – count, as do those other teams that put a Bat on the cover. I’ll wait.

If my math is correct (and I’ve only got so many fingers and toes) DC Comics is releasing 31 different “Batman” comics titles in January 2022 alone. That’s roughly two-thirds the number of different Richie Rich titles Harvey Comics published over 33 years, but I repeat, DC is doing this in just one month.

Should you want to purchase them all – which will make your friendly neighborhood comics retailer very happy – all you’ll need is $352.72. Personally, I’d ask for a discount, but not all comics shops can afford to do that.

Apples to apples, in constant dollars using 1993 as our vanishing point, 352.72 dollars right now would have only cost you 184.27 dollars in 1993. But given this whole supply-and demand COVID inflation thing going on, you might want avoid stalling your purchase.

Can the marketplace handle 31 different Batman comics titles for the cumulative price of $352.72? Ask me again in, say, February. Take comfort in the fact that Batman is not appearing in The Peacemaker teevee series. Batman completists wouldn’t be able to make their rent.

Richie Rich has been unemployed these past several decades, although, really, when did he ever hold down a real job? Nonetheless, he’s got the money to go into any business he might like. Please note the Rich Family does not seem to be lining up to buy DC Comics.

Come to think of it, I might ask “Would Richie Rich spend all that money on a 10-minute ego trip to inner-most outer space? The answer is “I have no doubt he already did.”

With Further Ado #171: Come Fly With Me

With Further Ado #171: Come Fly With Me

Posted on by Ed Catto

I found this kooky little comic in a bargain bin at Ken Wheaton’s Empire Comic Fest last weekend. It’s a promotional comic for American Airlines, presumably given away to young kids to keep them busy during a plane ride.  This is the issue of Harvey’s AstroComics from 1975. Although sometimes they also spell it as Astro Comics.

I found it absolutely charming.

Despite the fact, that when you really think about it, one of the main characters is a dead child. I am not sure what Casper’s official origin story was at this point, or if he even had one.  But isn’t it kind of creepy to encourage a young kid (maybe it’s their first time on airplane) to read a story about a deceased little boy?

This promotional comic includes a team-up story with Richie Rich and Casper. I didn’t realize they shared adventures, but apparently they often did. In fact, Harvey published  a comic called Richie Rich & Casper that ran for 45 issues in the 70s. Kind of like Harvey’s very own version of World’s Finest Comics, I guess.

Of note: the team-up story is from Richie Rich & Casper #20, and most of the stories included are reprinted from past Harvey comics.

But Astro Comics #1 was designed to keep kids even busier with several innocuously fun American Airlines pages (i.e., corporate propaganda).  Things like a connect-the-dots activity page, a “Story of your Flight Attendant” text page, another text piece called “All about your Flight Crew” and an American Astro Comic Flight Quiz.  This quiz has questions like “Whose football team does Joe Namath play for?”*

The back cover might just be a milestone. I think it’s the very first Back Sketch Cover! Could it be? I do need to do a little more research before I wake up Overstreet’s J.C. Vaughn at 2:00 am with this amazing “find”.

But can you imagine if every kid on a plane got a free comic to read during their flight? Oh sure, they might rather play with their phone, but wow – what an introduction to comics that would be.

Hot Stuff

One more thing: I love this Hot Stuff cover!  One of my fellow faculty members, at Ithaca College’s School of Business has great memories of reading Hot Stuff comics. He’s not a “comics guy”, per se, but he got a few issues for his young son. I make it point to rescue any issues of Hot Stuff I find in bargain boxes at comic shops (like the excellent Heroes Your Mom Threw Out in Elmira or Wonderland Comics in Rochester) and pass it along to my co-worker. I recently grabbed a couple of issues with that in mind, but I love this cover so much I had to find a spot for it in my collection!

*The answer to this question ties into one of the American Airlines destinations, but you have to unscramble the answer.   It is listed as “weN rYko”.

With Further Ado #133: It’s an Ad, Ad, Ad World

With Further Ado #133: It’s an Ad, Ad, Ad World

Posted on by Ed Catto

I always kinda liked the ads in comics.  In stark contrast to prose books (I am a big bookworm and love to read books, too), the constant interruption of comic stories by advertisements sprinkled throughout has a charm all of its own. And when they fit in with comics, it’s even better. Sometimes the ads showcase other genre-related properties like movies, TV shows and licensed merchandise.  Sometimes they just serve as a nostalgic tether to days, and products, long gone by.

I’m proud to have had a few of my ads appear in various comics over the years. It was a thrill to see them in print. Like the Super Bowl, there were times when I’d look forward to seeing the ads more than the main event.  In a recent conversation with my old Nabisco pal, Doug Haase, we ended up talking all about our old Marvel comics cross promotion and the ads that went along with it.

I’ve worked with professional experts too. Creative types as well as sales folks. As far as I’m concerned, people like Marvel’s Renee Krumper, Valiant’s Seymour Miles, and DC’s Avery Stiratt have an important place in comics history.  Most notable is the entrepreneurial warrior, Kris Longo. He’s been fighting the good fight at Geek Riot Media, the firm he founded, for years now.

With all that in mind, I was especially delighted when I stumbled across Harvey’s Dick Tracy #99. I’m working on a Dick Tracy article for the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, and I need to get up to speed. Continue reading “With Further Ado #133: It’s an Ad, Ad, Ad World” →

Brainiac On Banjo #027: Comic Book Economics

Brainiac On Banjo #027: Comic Book Economics

Posted on by Mike Gold
Dan DiDio

Somebody noticed the comic book racks are overcrowded… and that somebody is Dan DiDio, co-publisher, DC Comics. I gather Dan’s deductive skills were sharpened by his decades of comic book collecting.

Well, he’s the right man for the job. Just about each month for the better part of a half-century the Diamond Distributors catalog, the one that terrorizes your friendly neighborhood comic book store owner who must bet the rent on his or her non-returnable orders, has grown like Stumbo on steroids to its present size and weight, rivaling the Manhattan phone book in water displacement. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo #027: Comic Book Economics” →