Captain America #245 (May, 1980)

Ads:

• Fun Factory Dept. (Various mail away gags).
• Various mail aways.
• Bubble Yum Wild Cherry Bubble Gum (Bubble gum).
• Various mail aways.
• Whoopers malted milk candy (Camp cook kit camping gear mail away).
• Heroes World (Star Trek: The Motion Picture action figures and vehicle order form) (Art by students of the Joe Kubert School Of Art).
• Marvel Super Heroes Prestomagix Dry Transfer Games (Marvel/General Mills)
• 100 Pc. Toy Soldier Set

Starman #1 (Oct. 1988)

Title: Starman #1
Cover Art By: Tom Lyle

Editor: Robert Greenberger

Genre: Superhero

Printing: First
Publishing Date: Oct. 1988

Publisher: DC Comics

Book Type: Standard Comic

Price: 1.00 (US)/1.35 (CAN)

Pages: 36 (Story has 26)

Story Title: Grassroots Hero

Main Characters: Starman [Will Peyton] (First Appearance)

Writer: Roger Stern

Penciller: Tom Lyle

Inker: Bob Smith

Letterer: Bob Pinaha

Colorist: Julianna Ferriter

Editor: Robert Greenberger

Notes: 

• This is the first appearance of the Will Peyton "Starman".
• The Starman logo was designed by Steve Vance, who also did the awesome 80's Hawk And Dove Logo.
• There is a two page Robert Greenberger write up on the History Of Starman.
• It's interesting to read Bob Greenberger's two page write up on the history of the DC "Starmen", and refer to the Ist Issue Special Mikaal Tomas "Starman" to be a mere footnote. Of course this was about six or seven years before James Robinson would revitalize that character in the 90's with the Jack Knight Starman series which even lead to Mikaal Tomas joining the Justice League in the 2000's.
• There are a few preliminary costume sketches by Tom Lyle of the Will Peyton costume on the bottom of the first greenberger write up page.

Ads:

• Gauntlet/R.B.I. Baseball (Tengen) (Nintendo Video Game Ad) (Split Page)
• Candilicious (Chewy Candies) (Candy Ad)
• Various Mail Orders
• Mile High Comics (Comic book mail aways) (Two pages)
• Olympic Prizes For Cash (Mail Order)
• Forgotten Realms (Game Expansion) (TSR)

Comic Book Movies: Swamp Thing (1982) (1986 Embassy VHS Reissue)

Title: Swamp Thing

Box Tagline: Science Made Him Into Monster. Loved Changed Him Even More!

Starring: Louis Jourdan, Adrienne Barbeau, Ray Wise, Dick Durock

Directed By: Wes Craven

Genre: Horror

Release Year: 1982

VHS Release Year: 1986

Distributor: Embassy Home Entertainment

Box Type: Slipcase

Catalog #: 1605

Previews/Trailers: N/A

1986 cardboard slipcase reissued by Embassy Home Entertainment.

The "Gold" Embassy Home Entertainment Ident precedes the feature. The FBI warning appears after the end credits.

Like all North American VHS releases, this is the U.S. theatrical version without the extra footage of Adrienne Barbeau's nude bathing scene.

Contains no previews/trailers.

Other versions of Swamp thing on VHS are the original 1982 Embassy clamshell (With the white Embassy ident preceding the feature), and the 2000 MGM Movietime reissue from MGM Home Entertainment. I do not own the 2000 MGM Movietime release but I'm assuming MGM used the extended International cut that they used for the DVD release that features the longer Adrienne Barbeau nude bathing scene.

One of my all time favorite movie posters.

Comic Book Movies: Swamp Thing (1982) (2005 DVD MGM Reissue)

Title: Swamp Thing

Box Tagline: Science Made Him A Monster!

Starring: Louis Jourdan, Adrienne Barbeau, Ray Wise, Dick Durock

Directed By: Wes Craven

Genre: Horror

Release Year: 1982

DVD Release Year: 2005

Distributor: MGM Home Entertainment & Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Box Type: Keep case (Poly-box)

Catalog #: 1008658

Previews/Trailers: Swamp Thing (1982)

Extras: N/A

Reissued in 2005 by MGM Home Entertainment & Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The MGM Ident and the United Artists Ident precede the feature. The MGM ident appears after the credits.

This is the U.S. theatrical version without the extra footage of Adrienne Barbeau's nude bathing scene.

The original MGM DVD released in 2000 featured the International version with the Barbeau nude scene intact. Read why it was recalled in 2002 here.

The covers for the MGM DVD's are terrible, they didn't even add the extra sentence, "Love Changed Him Even More!" to finish the tagline.

Features an anti-piracy commercial before the DVD menu. 

The sole special feature is the awesome 1982 Theatrical Trailer for Swamp Thing.

A holographic cover with different artwork was glued to the outside of the DVD case, which covers the lame DVD cover. Both covers suck though. 

This Lame holographic cover was glued to the front of the DVD case.

Comics That Seen Better Days #3

With the exceptions of the ripped corner and the sticker tears above the logo, this copy of Tarzan Of The Apes No. 167 from May, 1967, isn't really that bad off. Of course it's a write-off, but it still has some nice gloss on the cover and the staples are still pretty strong. Such a shame to see those rips though, but it did manage to escape the wrath of ink from some kid for all these years. 

Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan Of The Apes No. 167, May, 1967.
Incredible Pal-Ul-Don
Interior Art By Russ Manning.
There is a text story (Kinji's Offer) and a back up story featuring Leopard Girl (The Death Fruit).
Painted cover.
Number on cover 10012-705 May

Comics That Seen Better Days #2

This copy of Marvel Tales #45 is a complete mess, the cover is ripped off completely and split in two and it has a "Aug. 17 1974" stamp on the cover and a "Property Of Joe MacEachern" stamp on the first page. There's also five additional staples put there by someone (My money's on Joe) to hold the cover together. Dear Joe, they did not hold. Five Staples...wow. Of course I will keep this baby because I don't like throwing out comics and it has great ads, and maybe someday I will meet Joe MacEachern and help him recapture his childhood by giving him back one of his comics.

Marvel Tales No. 45, September 1973.
Cover By John Romita, Sr.
Interior Art By John Romita, Sr., Don Heck & Mike Esposito.
This is a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man No. 62, July 1968.
The original cover from Amazing Spider-Man features a plain white background.
An additional background with bystanders was added for this reprint cover.

I have another question, Joe MacEachern, what does the 62 mean?

How can I possibly throw out a comic that has an ad with a caption like that?

Great Comic Artists: Joe Staton (Part 3)

Continuing the spotlight on Joe Staton, this time showcasing a couple of his Charlton Horror covers, both cover dated October, 1975. These covers showcase Staton's women, they weren't always pretty but they certainly were buxom.

Ghostly Haunts #46, October, 1975.

The Many Ghosts Of Dr. Graves #53, October 1975.

Great Comic Artists: Joe Staton (Part 2)

Continuing our look at Joe Staton, this time around looking back on his work on the late 80's title, The Green Lantern Corps, which he worked on for issues, 206-213, 217, 221 & 222 with writer, Steve Englehart, & inkers, Mark Farmer & Bruce Patterson. This run with Englehart has received much better critical acclaim from fans throughout the years than their next collaboration in 1988, the often hated weekly crossover for DC Comics, Millennium. Next to E-Man, some fans believe this was some of the more polished work Staton has done, partly due to the excellent tight inking from Mark Farmer. I agree with that but his three issue revival of the Doom Patrol, issues 94-96 of Showcase will always be my favorite Staton work.

The Green Lantern Corps #209, Feb. 1987.
Inks by Bruce Patterson & Colors by Anthony Tollin. Interiors inked by Mark Farmer.

The Green Lantern Corps #210, March. 1987.
Pencilling assist from Ed Hannigan, Inks by Bruce Patterson & Colors by Anthony Tollin.
Interiors inked by Mark Farmer.

The Green Lantern Corps #211, April 1987.
Inks by Bruce Patterson & Colors by Anthony Tollin.
Interiors inked by Mark Farmer.

The Green Lantern Corps #212, May 1987.
Inks by Bruce Patterson & Colors by Anthony Tollin.
Interiors inked by Mark Farmer.

The Green Lantern Corps #213 June 1987.

Inks by Bruce Patterson & Colors by Anthony Tollin.

Interiors inked by Mark Farmer.

This cover is an homage to a previous Staton cover for Green Lantern #190, July 1985

Omega The Unknown #1 (Mar. 1976)

Cover Art By Jim Mooney & Joe Sinnott

Title: Omega The Unknown #1
Cover Art By: Jim Mooney & Joe Sinnott

Editor: Marv Wolfman

Genre: Superhero

Printing: First
Publishing Date: March, 1976

Publisher: Marvel Comics Group

Book Type: Standard Comic

Price: 0.25

Pages: 36 (Story has 18)

Story Title: Omega The Unknown

Main Characters: Omega (First Appearance), James-Michael Starling (First Appearance)

Writer: Steve Gerber

Penciller: Jim Mooney

Inker: Jim Mooney

Letterer: John Costanza

Colorist: Petra Goldberg

Editor: Marv Wolfman

Notes: 

• The name of the letters page in this issue is Omega Mail. 
• Since this is the first issue, Creator Steve Gerber uses the letters page to talk about the creation of Omega.

Ads:

• Johnson Smith Co. (Mail Order gags)
• Various Mail Orders/Isokinetics Muscle Builder Mail Order (Split Page)
• Super Values $1 Iron-On Vinyl Transfers (Mail Order)
• Various Mail Orders
• Slim Jim/Grit Publishing Co. (Split Page)
• Reflections Of A Rock Super Hero (Spider-Man Rock Album!)
• Customizing Center (Vehicle Customizing Training)/Karate Training (Split Page)
• Crazy Magazine/Superman VS. Spider-Man Treasury (Marvel House Ads) (Split Page)
• Joe Weider Muscle Building Courses (Ad features a young Arnold Schwarzenegger)
• Various Mail Orders
• Our Way Studios Mail Aways (Marvel-Hero Stick-Ons/Life-Size Hang-Ups) (Split Page)
• Spider-Man And The Cupcake Caper (Hostess Cup Cakes)
• 100 PC. Toy Soldier Set (Lucky Products Inc.) (Mail Away)
• U.S. School Of Music (Correspondence Music Lessons)
• La Salle Extension University (Education Correspondence)

Great Comic Artists: Joe Staton (Part 1)

Here's a few covers spotlighting the somewhat cartoony, loose work of the underrated Joe Staton.

Staton broke into the biz in the early 70's for Charlton Comics working on many of their horror titles and is possibly most known for co-creating E-Man with Nicola Cuti. When he jumped to DC in the mid 70's, he co-created The Earth-2 Huntress and helped revive The Doom Patrol for Showcase and the Justice Society Of America in All-Star Comics. During the 80's, along with (One of my all time faves) Steve Englehart, they did a beloved run on Green Lantern Corps and the somewhat hated 8 issue weekly mini series, Millennium. In 1989, along with Joey Cavalieri, brought The Huntress into the Post-Crisis DC universe with a well received mini-series. In the 2000's, Staton was part of Archie's "new look" concept when he and Al Milgrom with writer, Melanie J. Morgan took on Jughead in a series in which Jughead falls in love. Today, Staton works on the Dick Tracy comic strip with Mike Curtis. I managed to meet him in Oct. of 2013 at the New York Comic Con. He signed my copy of Space 1999 #1.

Haunted Love #4, October 1973.
Staton also did the art for the second story in this issue, "Reunion".
As seen here, John Byrne's females are somewhat influenced by Joe Staton.

Space 1999 #1, November 1975.
This issue is signed by Joe Staton (New York Comic Con, 2013).

All-Star Comics #73, August 1978.
Inked by Joe Giella.
Giella's inks really ruin this cover, He was not the right fit for Staton at all.
The crammed panelling and the awkward positioning of some of the characters, also doesn't help it.

Showcase #97, Feb. 1978.
Inked by Joe Orlando

Jughead's Double Digest Magazine #141, August, 2008.
Inked by Al Milgrom.
Staton took on the "New Look" Archie concept which was designed to give the Archie world a more realistic look but his herky-jerky outlandish goofy style and 90's outdated hair & clothing made them seem more cartoony, not to mention more uglier than ever before. 

Comics That Seen Better Days #1

I've got hundreds of poor comics that I kept stacked in my room, and for some reason, I just don't want to throw them out. They aren't part of my main collection, but I feel like I'm rescuing them from the trash heap and I keep them for reference, house ads, and scanning but some of them are beat to hell. I figured I'd get some use out of them on here.
Here's a wonderful Neal Adams cover for Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane No. 79, November, 1967 that has seen better days. I guess if you're gonna rip a cover, do it right, I guess. There's way too many great DC house ads in this baby to turf it just yet, and the Letters To Lois And Lana page is a keeper for sure. The bottom line is...This is how you distress a comic.

Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane, No. 79, November 1967.
Cover By Neal Adams.
Interior art by Kurt Schaffenberger.
Wow, How many times has Lois been "married" in this title? and Superman really is a jealous asshole.