It's 2020 - Do You Know Where Your Superman Is?

Well, 2020 sure ain't 20/20, eh? If anything, the times are the complete opposite of clear sight. And, hells - no wonder i can't find Superman. We live in a world where the inspiration for Lex Luthor (modern post-Crisis version) is president of the United States, and the man who was making the Superman movies is someone who doesn't believe in even the concept of Aspirational Heroes and thinks that anyone who does is an idiot.

The Odd thing is, this isn't the first time we've been stuck searching for Superman in 2020 while racist assholes run amuck. We did that 40 years ago...

Let's hope we can stop the racist villains in our world, too.

Superman 2020 did return for four more tales over the next 13 issues. 

And later in 2020, Superman & Lois get their own tv show again. I don't know exactly how that relates, but i'm looking forward to it.

page art by Curt Swan and Joe Staton from Superman #s 354 & 355 (1980)

Scatterday Morning Post

Apparently today is Scatterday. Every time i try to focus on something, thoughts skitter off in multiple directions. I've started three different posts this morning, and the ol' peripatetic brain wandered off in the middle of each.

So, let's go back and check in with some old faves.

What's Don Newton up to...?

Umm...

Maybe it's not a good time?

I'll try again later.

damnfoolery by Don Newton from Return Of The Skyman (1987)

Channel Surfing In The '80s

Maybe a nice dive into the Odd will help either shake things loose or tighten things up in the ol' noggin. 
Whichever it needs.

We may not have inter-dimensional cable, but we can maybe some inter-dementional video...

Yeah. I think that helped me.
How 'bout you?

page art by Michael T. Gilbert, Fred Hembeck, Dave Hunt, Walt Simonson, Trina Robbins, Jim Starlin, Jose Marzan, Kevin Maguire, Bill Wray, and Keith Giffen. With that many big name artists, you already know the book, right? (1988)

Enjoy It, No Matter How You Spell It

Hanukkah is the most popular spelling.
Chanukah is second. There is a list with at least 16 spellings for the holiday. 

Sometimes it's simpler to just say it with pictures...

No matter how you spell it, today is the first day of Hanukkah for 2019. Like Easter, one needs to be a scholar or own a calendar to know when to celebrate each year. It's a major religious holiday known to most in this country, but not everyone who isn't Jewish knows just what they're celebrating.

Fortunately, it's not hard to find out -

Hanukkah (the book, not the holiday) was written by Miriam Schlein and illustrated by Katherine Kahn to teach children about the holiday. Let's read along and learn with them, shall we? (My apologies for the small size and quality of the scans - resources were quite limited.)

And now you've got the basics.

Umm - okay.

There might still be a thing or two to learn...

page art by Katherine Kahn from Hanukkah and Chris Sheridan from Motorcycle Samurai-The All-Star Hanukkah Special (1983, 2016)

Stan Lee Vs. Spider-Man! Who Would Win?

As one might have noticed from last evening's post, i went digging for a few more Un-Comics. This time, it wasn't random digging - i was fair certain there were riches in this vein. I just hadn't opened it up in quite some time. 

Where was i going digging? Into Blip!

We already looked a bit at Pizzazz! so Blip! was only natural, and overdue. Blip!, like Pizzazz!, was a magazine published by Marvel Comics. This one was aimed at Video Game Players back in 1983. One might expect a range of years there, but it lasted only 7 issues, all covered dated '83.

In my digging i found 3 Un-Comics to reward my search - and a nice bonus tie-in to one of them. The third of those, from the final issue of Blip!, we saw in the post mentioned above.

The first comes from the first issue and appears to be the first ever Mario Brothers comic - a Triple First bonus -

If anyone knows of a Mario strip prior to '83, let us know.

The second (and final?) of the three is just a bit more odd than the other two. You see, that was when the Spider-Man game from Parker Brothers came out. So, Spidey got the cover -

Yes, those are the actual game graphics on the screen.

Inside, we get the Big Match...

 ...Spidey Vs. Stan!...

Those kids had some serious bragging rights back in those days, and that was before Stan got to be so well known and loved as a cultural figure. 

The article was followed directly by our Spider-Man un-comic, with art by Jazzy John Romita! - also featuring the video game -

art by Bob Camp and John Romita for Blip #s 1 & 2 (1983)