Even though I've never actually heard it, I still sing the "Big Belly Burger" jingle to my Youngest, usually while tickling his big belly. From The Adventures of Superman #441, "The Tiny Terror of Tinseltown!" In case you can't hold your monitor up to a mirror: Script and plot by John Byrne, pencils and plot by Jerry Ordway, inks by Dennis Janke. This was a Mr. Mxyzptlk issue, the second part of his second post-Crisis appearance.
Even though I'm not a huge fan of Mxy's, this is a high point for him. This would also be the first time he would diverge from the classic "make me say my name backwards" rule, into whatever terms he decided on the current visit. 
This time, after Supes wraps up Mxy's Smurf knock-offs, Mxyzptlk tells Supes he'll go back to the fifth dimension, if Supes can get him to paint his face blue. As Mxy gets ready to go under the stage lights of a game show, he bypasses Superman's obvious trap, to fall victim to the real ruse: color-changing makeup, inspired by a similar device used in the play Finian's Rainbow. Well, duh. Everyone knows that...Also this issue: subplots with Cat Whatsername (who has a conversation with her young son, who as much as calls her easy to her face), Lois working leads on a Lex Luthor story, the reboot circus mentalist Brainiac (man, did that seem like a misfire), a mysterious girl in a red-and-blue costume in Antarctica, a shadowy figure wrecking up a Lexcorp oil rig, and a cameo appearance from Streaky! At least five pages devoted to future story threads, which seems maybe a page or two on the excessive side; but I think it kept readers coming back, didn't it?
Plus ads for enduring classics like Manhunter! (The John Ostrander/Doug Rice version...well, I liked it.) Action Comics Weekly! (Um...) Aquaman: The Missing Peace! (Didn't even rate a full page? Harsh.) The Wanderers! (DC, just because you still have the Wanderers name, doesn't mean you're obligated to use it. Just a head's up.) And The Killing Joke! (That's more like it. Batman isn't even mentioned in the ad...) Well worth seventy-five cents!
Just finished reading the entire blog from last to first entry. Sum total: 2 months!
ReplyDeleteWell, 2 months, plus a life, a job, and the fact that I got really sick of you for a few days.
Still, great stuff! I can't even remember how I got here in the first place; it might of been Poe Ghostal's website.
Good lord, I may need your address, so I can send you a medal for service award or a No-Prize or something. And I can definitely understand getting sick of me for a few days: this blog, like myself, are probably best in small doses.
ReplyDeleteSince you just finished: was there anything you preferred? I personally kind of miss the longer single-issue rundowns, but it's been going more action-figure here lately.
Truth be told, I like the whole sheband: the mix is what keeps it interesting and unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my favorite aspect of the blog is absolutely learning about obscure (to me) comics and toys I'd never heard of like Trouble with Girls, Badger, or the Shadowrun Duels figures.
But these come up in the course of things anyway: Trouble with Girls in a single-issue rundown, Shadowrun in an action figure strip.
Also, you've got me reading Nexus!
(this blog-reading habit is expensive!)
Hell yes: if I've got somebody reading Nexus, whelp, reckon my job is done; an' I can put on my hat and ride onto the next town...
ReplyDeleteTrouble with Girls is my local comic shop owner's favorite book, so it's got a pretty good endorsement; but I've only read the Epic issues. There's always more offbeat or obscure stuff to be found, but once you've admitted to having a complete run of Ghost, I don't know if your credibility ever fully recovers...