Solving a Copyright Problem

The indica of the Bill and Ted comic books circa 1991 indicate that "Fight Man, Hooded Eye, and related characters and likenesses are copyright Marvel Comics" (as opposed to, I suppose, Nelson Entertainment.)

In the collection released last year by Slaver Labor Graphics, all references to Fight Man are changed to "Fight Dude" and all references to "Hooded Eye" are changed to "Hooded Dude". The "M" on Fight Man's right arm (probably solely on that one page) is now a "D".

Why does this exist, and who is the market for them?

Rose Is Rose

The storyline for the comic strip "Rose Is Rose" this week concerns the fear and trepidtion of the kid knowing that in PE class he has to "climb up the rope".

It's a theme found in Daniel Pinkwater's "Alan Mendelsohn", and I suppose elicits memories from the reader of the time in public school where they had to "climb the rope" in PE class.

Here's the thing: I... don't remember that experience. When and where is this standard Physical Education protocol? It seems like something that was moved beyond from in, maybe the 1970s. I keep seeing things like this pop up in the comic strip "Zits", where I'm supposed to "know" the key growing up experience, but I simply don't.

I'm pretty sure that is the be all and end all of Archie's smattering superhero-gags on the cover of Josie. "He's the only superhero who can kiss in A/C or D/C current" is a most peculiar gag. The other cover can be recylced with any glut of superhero titles in any era of comic book history.

I note that the "by Dick and Dan" label disappeared from the title with issue #41 (or maybe #42, I'd have to check), which has a story that sort of preludes into Josie and the Pussycats... meaning it ceases to be "Dick and Dan"'s creation (though better to say "Frank Doyle and Dan Decarlo", who are after all the creators of the comic book) and is now the domain of the company.

Pyongyang : A Journey in North Korea

looks like an interesting little graphic novel to add to the somewhat variable assortment of "travel" comics out there.

Hm?



Whether I'll add it to the sort of annually "must stick a few items up" Amazon.com wish-list, I do not know. I have a different North Korea-related item up there now, so. Hm.

The Worst Comic Books in Existence

This is an example of a comic book that goes from being marked up by twice the original price and bagged and boarded, to priced down to half its original cost, to tossed in the 50 cent bin, to tossed in the 10 cent bin, to just tossed out. The comic book industry is full of comic books like that... every mini-boom of comic books produces comic books that you don't understand why exist. Black and White boom followed by Black and White Bust. Or, in this case, Image Boom followed by Image Bust.

Are these superheroines supposed to be "hot?"