EXHIBIT IV: Force Works (Marvel Comics Vol.1, 1994-1996): Formed from the deadwood of the West Coast Avengers, written by Dan Abnet and Andy Lanning; and uniquely illustrated by Tom Tenney and Ray Garcia, Force Works (FW) promulgated the interesting premise … Continue reading →
EXHIBIT III: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (Tower Comics: 1965-1969): In our ongoing series of superhero teams that almost made it, we will now turn our attention from DC and Marvel to a competitor, Tower Comics, and their T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, or ”The Higher … Continue reading →
EXHIBIT II: The Champions (Marvel Comics: October 1975): This week, in our continuing examination of comic book super-hero teams that didn’t quite make it, we’ll turn from DC to arch-competitor Marvel, and the The Champions (October, 1975). Despite Gil Kane’s … Continue reading →
EXHIBIT I: The Outsiders (DC Comics: 1st Issue Special, No. 10, January 1976): Over the last fifty years, heroes have come and gone in lock-step with the times. Even more transitory are the ad hoc teams that were thrown pell-mell … Continue reading →
TOP HAT Continues its Examination of The Often Creepy, Nightmare World Of Dr. Seuss: Last week, we began our exploration of the haunting, strange world of Dr. Seuss, where we examined such subjects as The Grinch, Clark, the sea monster, … Continue reading →
TOP HAT Takes A Look At The Often Creepy, Nightmare World Of Dr. Seuss (IF WE DARE!): A few months ago, we came up for air from our backwoods, swamp abode to take a look back on the darker side … Continue reading →
Every once in a while, a certain book will come along that has the shuddering effect of an atomic bomb at ground zero: the genre is altered and a paradigm shift occurs. From that point onward, the exemplar spawns analogs … Continue reading →
It’s a magic carpet ride Every door will open wide To happy people like you! ~Sesame Street Theme Song; When Sesame Street first aired, its effect on society was fundamentally changing. Never before had there been a TV show explicitly … Continue reading →
EXHIBIT V: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1986); Pantheon Books: Great literature not only says something about the human condition, it may also speak to the conditions of the day, thus also serving as a valuable historical text. Such examples include … Continue reading →
Exhibit IV: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986); DC Comics, Inc.: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will … Continue reading →
TOP HAT COMICS REMEMBERS STAN LEE: As recently as our blog of Oct 8, we celebrated The Man’s influence on us through his and The King’s masterpiece, Fantastic Four #51. Little did we suspect at the time that a … Continue reading →
Exhibit III: Fantastic Four #51 (Jun. 1966); Marvel Comics Group: In our ongoing search for pieces of comic book literature that will still be considered worth reading—that is, “classic”—centuries from now, one might ask oneself where would Comicdom’s premier … Continue reading →
Exhibit II: “Daddy and the Pie”/“The Pie and I”, Erie #64 (Mar. 1975), Erie #72 (Feb. 1976); Warren Publishing Group: If—as a civilization—we haven’t yet destroyed ourselves four hundred years from now, will any of the media of today … Continue reading →
EXHIBIT 1: The Tomb of Dracula; Marvel Comics (Apr. 1972-Aug. 1979): According to Editor Eric, Shakespeare’s “works were indeed created for the popular entertainment of his day with little thought to their immortality. Shakespeare did not take any steps to … Continue reading →
A RETRO-LOOK AT THE MARTIAL ARTS CRAZE THAT PERVADED WESTERN CULTURE IN THE EARLY AND MID-1970S: “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting Those kids were fast as lightning In fact, it was a little bit frightening But … Continue reading →
AN EXAMINATION OF THE RETURN TO POPULARITY OF MONSTERS DURING THE BRONZE AGE OF COMICS (1970-1976): The tumultuous decade of the 1960s began with the Peace Corps, the World Wildlife Fund, and Leave it to Beaver. It ended in assassination, … Continue reading →
A Case Study Of How The Movie Version Improved The Original Story With the success of Matt Reeves’ reboot of the Planet of the Apes series (most recently, War for Planet of the Apes this past summer), it’s worth remembering … Continue reading →
STAYING ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE LAW WHILE WINNING THE ARMS RACE! Greetings again, most honored reader! An age-old battle has raged on across the universe and throughout the eons: the age-old see-saw between order … Continue reading →
COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU: THE TERRIBLE TRIO! or MEN OF THE MILE-LONG RAP SHEETS If one was lucky enough (or perhaps I should say unlucky enough) to have lived in the Wyrld somewhere in … Continue reading →
WHEN TORNADOS AND THE TERRIBLE TRIO COME TO TOWN, FIND AN INTERIOR ROOM AND DUCK FOR COVER! Ah, here are our three outlaws, come to pay their respects to the local sheriff. Poor Sheriff. On … Continue reading →
MEET THE TERRIBLE TRIO or TROUBLE COMES IN THREES Greetings, most honored reader! Yes, indeed, now you at last really do meet the “Terrible” Trio, the predecessors of … Continue reading →
THE STORY BEHIND THE COVER FOR “TOMMY ROCKET & THE AMAZING MR. VICTORY!” Welcome, dear reader! We hope you’ve enjoyed the story of Tommy Rocket & the Goober Patrol so far. Now, at long last, we’re ready to … Continue reading →
TRIP-DOWN-MEMORY-LANE DEPARTMENT: WAS TOMMY ROCKET A 20TH-CENTURY MAN?: A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE Thank you for tuning in, dear reader! Loyal Tommy Rocket readers know that Tommy Rocket and the Goober Patrol is the story of a bratty super-genius … Continue reading →
MEET THE CAST OF TOMMY ROCKET & THE GOOBER PATROL Let’s wander on down the street, to the house located at 132 Primrose Lane, the one where the sounds of metal smashing against metal and concrete can be … Continue reading →
MEET TOMMY ROCKET & THE GOOBER PATROL! At long last Tommy Rocket is making it to the virtual ether! This story began twenty years ago before the widespread use of the Internet with the introduction by Top Hat Comics … Continue reading →
