Told today, he probably would've ended up on her Crocs, which might not be a dealbreaker.

 

I was mildly surprised that McDonald's was having a Happy Meal Crocs toy, since Deadpool ruined those for me. The Youngest had a pair, with some of those little Jibbitz shoe charms; click that link and wreck your targeted ads for this month! But, we're going to look at some older-school charms, in today's book! From 1976, the Twilight Zone #73, featuring "A Charmed Life!" Art by Jack Sparling. Cover by George Wilson.

I really want to go to another YouTube link already, the William S. Burroughs/Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy number "Words of Advice for Young People." Namely, because even the GCD summary is like "has a deal with the devil ever worked?" A mobster makes a deal with a dame of a devil, noticing her charm bracelet of famous sellouts--er, celebrities, including a judge. He does lead the proverbial charmed life for a bit, as his enemies can't even kill him when he's right there; but the devil calls in her marker, and asks him to take a fall, to give a boost to an ambitious lawyer who could be governor or better someday. The mobster refuses, although he tries to change his tune after he shrinks down, becoming another charm in the devil's bracelet.

"Premonition" maybe feels closer to a classic episode: returning home on a hot and humid night, a professor is shocked to see himself leaving his house! He gives chase, but then realizes no one else seems to see him. Panicked, he makes his way to a friend's house, and is relieved to be seen there. He stays the night, and after a massive thunderstorm, the professor and his friend return to his house, to find his bedroom destroyed by lightning!

Rod Serling seems thrilled to intro the next one, "The Missing Link," wherein an anthropologist claims to have found evidence of the missing link, but then gets caught in a storm and lost without supplies. He manages to survive, but seemingly becomes his "missing link," and comes to a bit of a non sequitur ending. Finally, in "The Last Voyage" a couple of pirates direct from central casting sabotage their vessel before they jump ship, but get lost in a fog before they can make land. Yeah, that's not gonna go well.

Bonus: another Hulk Hostess ad! A magician turns into a giant frog and terrorizes the city, which is somehow the Hulk's problem. Still, it features a better mayor than Eric Adams!

Read more!

The other day on BlueSky, somebody was looking for a comic I knew I had seen recently, which turned out to be Jordi Bernet's Solo #6. Which took me for damn ever to find on the blog, because I didn't have it tagged under "horror comics," presumably because it wasn't all horror. This one probably isn't either, but let's see! From 2006, Solo #8, by Teddy Kristiansen.

I'm trying to recall where else I've seen Kristiansen's art, since while he's from Denmark, it always feels like it's from somewhere colder, where the locals have to rub walrus blubber on themselves to keep from freezing to death. Or, I may just be meandering, because the lead story features Deadman but is written by Gaiman, so we're skipping that. "The Good Book" is written by Steven Seagle, and tells of some English missionaries in Papua, New Guinea. One comes to a bad end, while another is saved; not by the Bible, but by another good book.

The rest are written by Kristiansen himself: in "Love Story" an artist left sleepless in a heat wave walks the city in the cooler night, and becomes infatuated with a woman also awake. Next, "Ruins," where another artist is commissioned to paint the works of an aged architect, but as ruins. That one seems like it could go in a Lovecraft direction, but doesn't; it just feels sad. Finally, "Ice" follows a doomed Antarctic expedition, to its seemingly inevitable end. 

Not my favorite issue of Solo, but Kristiansen's got an interesting style. Oh, I used to read the Vertigo House of Secrets, that's where I'd seen him before.

Read more!

"Fall Day."

No commentary yet today; I had trouble posting this one for some reason: I've never had any trouble from Blogger's community guidelines before. Read more!

Pretty sure I had a copy of this, but you find something like this in the quarter bin, you kind of have to, right? From 1989, Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe #1, story and pencils by Fred Hembeck, inks by Vince Colletta and Joe Staton.

A down-and-out Hembeck doesn't think things could possibly get worse, when he's faced with the Punisher, who wants to know if he's the guy that destroyed the Marvel Universe. Or, at least, all the heroes and villains, anyway. Well, yeah, but in his defense, he was tricked into doing it by his evil twin, and the pages were never published...until now! Which explains some of the minor continuity issues; like the Hulk was grey by the time this hit stands. Hijinks, of course, ensue.

Some of the jokes are hit-and-miss, like an extended riff on Doctor Doom's true identity as Reed's dad? And Reed's long-lost sister? I think I liked J.Jonah Jameson's reaction to incoming news of assorted heroes dying, which swerves from legit grieving to champagne popping off about when you'd expect. There was another book a year later, Fred Hembeck Sells the Marvel Universe, which was mostly reprints of his Marvel Age strips. There was also a 2016 the Marvel Universe According to Hembeck trade, but it's been a few since I've seen new stuff from him. Read more!