In this episode, Rob and Don are joined by Shain and Dave from Misterkitty.org to talk about their ongoing Stupid Comics project where they showcase some of the most awful and unique pieces of comic book art visited upon mankind. Along the way, the four talk about the pair’s Mister Kitty’s Lo-Fi Landfill audio project, really really oldschool anime, whether Archie is really comics or not, and the demise of local culture. All this, and how to make friends in high school using Omaha the Cat Dancer, are waiting for you in this episode of the Department of Nerdly Affairs.
- Closing Music:
Ode to Joy performed by Oliver Eckelt
Things Discussed:
MisterKitty.org
Stupid Comics
Mr. Kitty’s Lo-Fi Landfill
Guardians of Justice and the O Force
Anime Weekend Atlanta
Anime North
Anime Hell
Corn Pone Flicks
Don Rickles meets Jimmy Olsen
Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew!
Bizarre Sex Comic
Omaha the Cat Dancer
Robert Crumb
Fletcher Hanks
Stardust the Super Wizard
Phantoma the Mystery Woman
Dan DeCarlo
Archie Superheroes
Danguard Ace
Danguard Ace Compilation Films (watch online)
Captain Harlock
Shingo Araki
Prince Planet
8 Man
Kurt Scaffenberger
When Stupid Comics Ruled the World
How to Publish Comics the Solson Way
Sue Cat
Chargeman Ken
Horror Hosts
Littlest Hobo
Kids in the Hall
Enjoyed the interview with Shain and Dave, fun stuff. I might have asked a few more specific questions, like what was your worst superhero? (I remember one with mismatched arms and legs, although I forget the name.) What was the single most cringe-worthy comic you have ever seen? Which popular artist is consistently the worst? What are your personal pet peeves regarding story or art? Inquiring minds want to know!
Also, mention was made of a large Marvel of DC print run being in the neighborhood of 80,000, down from millions in the 1940s. But I wonder; there weren’t that many publishers or titles in the golden age of comics, perhaps the aggregate total is about the same in sales per month, but now divided among many, many, many publishers and titles. I suspect the total sales of comics might not be that dissimilar from that in the 1940s and 50s.
Never heard of “The Littlest Hobo” or “The Beachcombers.” However, I remember that my brother and I used to watch primitive cartoons on the Japanese channel in Hawaii during the late 1960s, so we were anime fans before it became a thing… even though we didn’t understand a word of the language. It didn’t really matter, there were lots of (poorly animated) explosions, gunfights, monsters, and space battles.
Very enjoyable show, very impressed with Shain and Dave’s depth of knowledge and verbal acuity. And also their very high pain threshold for bad comics.
>I might have asked a few more specific questions,
There are a LOT of things that could have been discussed, but you only get so much time. Some of the stuff you mention is covered in their podcast; the first episode of which is a bout their comics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVXTqxMDy9Y
I thought the reasons for making the leads of “Element of Surprise” gay was really clever. (It’s also why the characters of my comic aren’t humans.)
>What was the single most cringe-worthy comic you have ever seen?
THAT one I think got answered…. Oh, Ford Fairlane, we hardly knew ye….
>mention was made of a large Marvel of DC print run being in the neighborhood of 80,000, down from millions in the 1940s. But I wonder; there weren’t that many publishers or titles in the golden age of comics, perhaps the aggregate total is about the same in sales per month, but now divided among many, many, many publishers and titles. I suspect the total sales of comics might not be that dissimilar from that in the 1940s and 50s.
Well…. I think by any metric the numbers have definitely gone down. Back in the Golden Age there WERE a lot of companies…. sort of. It’s tough to track because so many of them disappeared quick, or got bought out, or changed their names…. That’s one reasons characters got passed around so much. But the number of publishers fluctuates a lot depending on eras. By the mid-70’s there was only a handful; and it stayed that way until the independent boom of the early 80’s…. at which time there were technically ZILLIONS of publishers since SO MANY folks self-published. (Often only one or two issues. Holy Golden Age, Bunniman!) By the end of the 80’s there was only a handful again, until the 90’s post-Image “Pencil like Jim Lee/ink like Rob Liefield” period.
That being said, the print runs have noticeably declined since the Golden Age. Back then books could have print runs in the millions; although numbers around 750000 are more common. (I think there were books that broke 2 million…. but I don’t have the actual stats on hand just now.) The numbers stayed pretty high until the Bronze Age; at which time they plummeted. Runs below 500000 were common, but a book that hit 250000 was still in danger of cancellation. Coming into the “Image Age” there were two tiers of comic: “mainstream” books with print runs around 400000 or so, and “independents” that would be considered a success with a run of 20000. For a small time mainstream books were selling in the 500000+ range again. Then the collapse, and sales of 100000 were a pipe dream.
Currently there doesn’t seem to be a big dif between mainstream and independent…. to the point I don’t know if there IS a mainstream any more. (Archie maybe?) Sales between 75000 – 50000 seems to be the standard for any sizable publisher. (Be they Marvel, DC or Viz.) Will there ever be a million issue break out again? Maybe. They’re free, but there are web comics that get millions of views these days.
Like the old newspaper strips…. that then birthed the comic industry…. Hmmmm….
>Never heard of “The Littlest Hobo” or “The Beachcombers.”
Hand in your Canadian card.
….wait….
>I remember that my brother and I used to watch primitive cartoons on the Japanese channel in Hawaii during the late 1960s, so we were anime fans before it became a thing… even though we didn’t understand a word of the language. It didn’t really matter, there were lots of (poorly animated) explosions, gunfights, monsters, and space battles.
That is SO familiar. Here we saw that stuff on the French channels, or some of the small local import ones. (I used to watch Gekko Kamen and Ribon in Spanish.) In the earliest days of home video we got TONS of Japanese stuff on VHS. I still have a bunch of them, even though a lot have deteriorated to the point of unwatchability.
Don C.