Prince Street News: Getting Superman

The new BACK ISSUE! is a loving tribute to the benchmark of all superhero cinema, Richard Donner's 1978 epic, SUPERMAN (aka ...THE MOVIE). I've written and drawn thousands and thousands of words about this movie and my love for it many times for many outlets over the years (even in a previous installment of this comic strip!), but this one is, upon the 40th anniversary of the film, a look at WHY that movie worked as well as it did (and as someone who just saw it again on the big screen as part of Fathom Events' anniversary screenings, I can attest that it still works...).

Having said that, this episode of PSN makes me wince a bit because I am still utterly inept at capturing likenesses. It's a failing. But I hope that doesn't impede your enjoyment of the strip too much. I mean, we all have our little faults... Lex's is in California.

Prince Street News: From Lancaster to Riverdale

Oh, did I love doing this one. BACK ISSUE! #107 is a deep dive into the Bronze Era of Archie Comics, a line for which I have tremendous love. The clean, crisp cartooning of some of those books had probably more of an impact on my style than the "straight" comic book artists I loved. To the extent where in hindsight, maybe I should've taken my portfolio to Archie instead of DC Comics back in the early '90s when I still thought this was what I wanted to do for a living.

Oh, well. At least I finally got the chance to draw the Archies... and Josie (after the New York Dolls)... and Sabrina... and Bingo... and the Mad House Glads...  and even Li'l Jinx (whom I hate). Unlike most installments of this comic strip, I'd imagine that this one will be relatable to a lot more of you beyond the aging hardcore fanboys like myself. At least I hope so.

Next up! Another look at Superman: The Movie (really!) on the cusp of its 40th anniversary.

Prince Street News: Golden Agers' Night!

The new BACK ISSUE!, #106 is on the stands, focusing on Bronze Age revivals of Golden Age characters (I've lost the non-fanboys already, haven't I?). For this installment of PSN, we return to Julie's Bar, the timeless tavern for comic book characters. This time we're bellying up to the bar in the 1974, a time when DC Comics was starting to bring back old characters such as The Spectre, Dr. Fate, and other Earth-2 members of the Justice Society of America (look it up). The gags in this one are pretty much all just for the fanboys, except maybe the first panel on page two. This is the second PSN in which I get to make "Comic Characters' Favorite Adult Beverages" jokes, a topic that combines two of my great loves (in case it helps you get the jokes, the characters are Uncle Sam, Bulletman, the "big guy" from Harvey Kurtzman's "Hey, Look!," Captain Tootsie (from comic book ads for Tootsie Rolls), the Spirit, The Blue Beetle, and Wonder Woman's pal, Etta Candy (who actually used to constantly shout, "Woo! Woo!"). Hilarious, right?

Okay, anyway. Next issue contains a strip that'll appeal to a wider audience, being anyone who's ever read an Archie comic book, particularly from the 1960s or '70s. Watch this space!

Barcade Jersey City 7th Anniversary Poster

As I post this, it's still in the future! So if you're seeing this prior to Thursday, May 10th, 2018, come to Barcade Jersey City and have some delicious beers with me! If, however, you're seeing this after that particular date in time, you lose, jerk!

But you should still hit a Barcade.

Tomorrow poster

My friend Joanna asked me if I'd be interested in doing the poster her Lancaster PA theater company's production of Joseph Eck's play, TOMORROW, based on the struggles of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman. 

Duh!

Joanna offered to send me the script, but I assured her I was somewhat familiar with the story. Anyway, the poster is (obviously, to some of you) based on the cover of 1939's SUPERMAN #1, the first comic book dedicated to a single character (that Superman guy sure did feature in a lot of pop culture firsts).

Prince Street News: Bad (or at least questionable) Editorial Decisions of the Silver and Bronze Ages

The new BACK ISSUE! (#103) is one of those For-Fanboys-Only issues, as it focuses on ALL-STAR EDITORS rather than specific characters or comics of the Bronze Age... but if you're someone who DOES know / care about how the super-sausage was made in the 1970s, it's another deep dive that's well worth taking.

For this issue, PRINCE STREET NEWS takes a gentle swipe at some comic book editorial decisions of the Silver and Bronze Ages that, in hindsight, may not have been the wisest choices. Some of them are notorious (Denny O'Neil's de-powered Wonder Woman, giving the Blackhawks superhero-ish identities), and some are less-controversial decisions that just bugged me (making J. Jonah Jameson, Perry White, and Jim Gordon all quit smoking). But like this issue of the magazine, this installment of the strip is pretty much just for those of you who have some longboxes stashed in your home somewhere... except maybe for the JUGHEAD'S EAT-OUT COMIC BOOK MAGAZINE, which is universally hilarious.

Although seriously, check out what happens in AVENGERS #200... it is freaking disturbing.

PSN returns in BI! #106 this summer with a return to Julie's Bar for GOLDEN AGERS' NIGHT!, then again in #107 with a tribute to the Bronze Age ARCHIE COMICS line.