Luck Be a Loser Tonight

Back in June of 2020, I began posting pictures I took from my issues of Wizard: The Guide To Comics. I basically kept it running until school started and I had to go back to work. It was something I really liked doing but I had to stop because of the time I needed to read through, get pictures, type tweets, and post the thread. I've also been wanting to post at least one issue here to see if it's something people would want to see return, either here or back on Twitter. Wizard #53 (January 1996) is the year-end spectacular. You can read the other issues, on Twitter, by going to the links here.

Wizard: The Guide to Comics #53. Cover by John Romita, Sr. and John Romita, Jr.

In the letters columns, someone posits that Superman is unable to run for President of the United States. Wizard responds that since technically Superman was "born" after crashing in Kansas, he is a natural born citizen. There's some praise for Neal Adams, someone ranks the most powerful DC heroes (Captain Atom is #1), someone upset at the rising costs of comics suggests digging through back issue bins and Wizard agrees. Someone asks whether Wizard is getting "soft" on comic book companies. Wizard responds that their "biting attitude" may vary from month-to-month but if comic book companies have a problem with what they say about their product then produce better material (they specifically bring up the Spider-Man Clone Saga). The Bunny Award goes to someone asking if Magneto could life Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, using his magnetic powers. The answer is: No.

In the news: More comics delving into The Crow mythos, Mike Grell is giving Maggie the Cat her own ongoing series from Image Comics, Topps Comics is bringing back classic Western characters Zorro, The Lone Ranger, and Lady Rawhide. Wendy Pini is drawing a new ElfQuest series, The Punisher is getting a new look.

A Croak of Brilliance An article on Harris Comics' newest superhero: Cyberfrog by Ethan Van Sciver. "This book kicks ass," say Van Sciver. Cyberfrog would last eight issues in 1996 and a handful of miniseries, the most recent being in 2019.

Casting Call 11 Wizard casts a movie starring a bunch of alternative comic book characters. Bill Campbell as Madman, Tom Hanks as Concrete, Joe Pesci as Cerebus, Robin Williams as Flaming Carrot, Denis Leary and Chris Farley as Milk and Cheese, and many more. The movie rights for this thing would be a mess.

Caught In a Web The Spider-Man movie directed by James Cameron is in development hell at this point (thankfully, because it always seemed like garbage), so Wizard looks at Spidey's media history starting with "Amazing Spider-Man" (CBS, 1977-1979) to "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" (Fox, 1994-1998). Don't expect Cameron's Spider-Man movie until 1997 though because Cameron is focusing on some forgettable movie about a love story set aboard some dumb boat.

Separation Anxiety Have you ever wondered how comics (and Wizard magazine) are colored? Well, the good people at International House of Color (I.H.O.C.) will show you how it's done. According to the Grand Comics Database, I.H.O.C.'s last regular job was on Savage Dragon/Hellboy from Image Comics.

In Your Face Wizard spends the day with Rob Liefeld at home and at work at Extreme Studios. Liefeld talks about what he's doing with his own titles and talks about returning to Marvel. The article ends with this picture of Liefeld watching "Reservoir Dogs". It's not explained why the chair seems to be at a weird angle in relation to the TV or why the clock is on the floor.

First Look: X-Nation 2099 Tom Peyer and Humberto Ramos are getting a new X-Men series set in the Marvel 2099 universe. The new characters are Clarion, Wulff, Nostromo, Uproar, Willow, December, and Twilight. They certainly look very 90s. X-Nation 2099 would last six issues.

Urban Renewal Mark Gruenwald and Bobbie Chase are relaunching many of Marvel's titles, trying to bring the company back to basics and streamline things similar to when the titles first launched back in the 1960s. Wizard goes through each of the titles to explain the changes. Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and The Incredible Hulk.

Stan Lee Wizard has an extensive interview with Stan "The Man", Mr. Marvel himself, Lee. Lee details his life from getting into comics at the age of 16 to helping create nearly every popular Marvel character. They do a word association game with people Lee worked with. Jack Kirby: "The master." Steve Ditko: "Unique genius." John Romita, Sr: "The best there is." John Buscema: "The Michelangelo of comicdom."

Drawing Board Dong Thor wins some Maxx artwork with his Mortal Kombat art. Other interesting works of art: Starman by Orion Harbour, Gen13 by Jonathan Fisher, The X-Files by Kyle Vannoy, Batman by TJ Frias and Randy Ng.

This months Homemade Heroes:

Eight To Fore '96 Wizard takes a look at eight talents to keep your eyes on because they are going to be huge. I'm not being sarcastic. Charles Adlard, Edvin Biukovic, Darko Macan, Gene Ha, Ron Garney, Kevin Lau, Warren Ellis, and Humberto Ramos.

Spinning a New Web Confused about what's going on in the Spider-Man titles? Peter Parker is gone and Ben Reilly, who was supposed to be a clone is the real Spider-Man but is he a clone? Or maybe I have that all wrong. I tried reading the Clone Saga but never got into it. Marvel should release a massive trade of it. Anyway, Wizard tries to make sense of it from it's humble beginning in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 to the brand new title The Sensational Spider-Man #1.

Star Search Because Wizard can't go one issue without mentioning Todd McFarlane, Wizard tries to stir up controversy by saying "superstar" artists aren't as great as they, the industry, and readers make them out to be. They don't mention any names or really what the point of this article is. Older artists point out that "superstars" have been around for awhile (Neal Adams, for example) and that these things are cyclical and eventually a superstar settles into a place of normalcy. Wizard lists 10 artists who are reaching for the stars to be the next Todd McFarlane and many of these names, while popular, will quickly lose their "superstar" status. A few mentions: Joe Madureira, Tom Grummett, Humberto Ramos, Greg Capullo, Kelley Jones, Adam Hughes, among others.

The Big 10 Wizard goes over the ten biggest events in the comics world in 1995. The many comic book movies, the cost of comics going up (it's the paper, stupid!), The Spider-Man Clone Saga, something called The Internet, Magic: The Gathering, Bad Girls like Shi and Cyblade, small press companies, The Age of Apocalypse, Manga, and comic book distributors becoming exclusive to DC or Marvel.

Manga Scene talks about Koichi Ohata and his story M.D. Geist. The picks of the month are X 1999 and "Zenki".

Tom Palmer talks about what the small press companies are doing in 1996.

The "Generation X" TV-movie is going to lead to the greatest series ever and usher in a new wave of comic book TV shows. "Green Hornet", a movie starring George Clooney and Jason Scott Lee may start filming soon.

The Top Ten Comics are X-Men Prime #1, Shi #1, The X-Files #1, Lady Death #1, Vengeance of Vampirella #1, Ash #1, Generation X #1, Gen13 #1 (miniseries), X-Man #1, Gen13 #1. Marvel Graphic Novel #4 featuring The New Mutants is a back issue you need to watch out for. Animal Man #5 by Grant Morrison, Chas Truog, and Doug Hazelwood is a good and cheap back issue. And the books you should pick up? DC Vs. Marvel #1, Logan #1, Gen13/Maxx #1, The Phoenix Resurrection, and Star Wars: Boba Fett-Bounty On Bar-Koanda.

Card Market DC is getting their own OverPower cards that are compatible with the Marvel ones. It's also announced that Amalgam Comics (the combination of DC and Marvel in the aftermath of DC Vs. Marvel) will be getting it's own set. Batman Master Series is going to be released from Skybox as well as Power Chrome: DC Legends (a chromium card set) and Outburst DC Firepower (an embossed card set). 

Here are the top 10 writers and artists for this month.

Uncanny X-Men #328 is the best-selling comic for the month of November 1995. Honestly, the X-Men are basically the top 8 for November.

And finally, Wizard profiles Adam West and Burt Ward at the end of the issue.

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Crankshaft

We all know that Crankshaft just kind of time-hopped over the pandemic. I wonder how long they time-hopped this time because it's certainly not 2022.

Mallard Fillmore

Mm. It appears this Fishman guy doesn't understand this strawman argument either. How many people is Grogg able to kill with a giant boulder lifted over his head? Probably a lot less than with an easy to carry wooden club, just like someone with a gun could kill a lot more people than a person with a knife. But they know and understand this, they just don't care.

panel from The Lockhorns

Leroy is wearing the exact same sweater as the dog which is, to be honest, is adorable and instead of being angry and embarrassed, Leroy should be embracing this moment.

Nancy

Sluggo Points won't be accepted as real cryptocurrency until Elon Musk accepts them but make sure to jump on this bandwagon early so you'll be rich when they happens. Move over, Dogecoin, Sluggo Points are here.

The Born Loser

Aren't you more likely to get struck by lightning than win the lottery? No matter, Uncle Ted was struck by lightning and survived and seems to have no ill-effects from it. After winning the lottery and getting struck by lightning all in one day, fate should just leave Uncle Ted alone for the rest of his life.

If you would like to support my writing or research, you can buy me a cup of coffee over on Ko-fi. You can now also tip me on the Twitter app using Cashapp or Venmo.

CC'd

Nick at Nite is known for originally hosting old TV shows from the 1950s through the 1970s. Then it became known for old TV shows from the 1980s through the 2000s. Now, it has a lot of original programming and I really don't know what they do now. In 1995, Nick at Nite published a magazine. There was only one issue and was published in conjunction with Nick at Nite's 10th anniversary. Let's see what classic TV goodness it gives us.

The magazine starts off with a timeline of television history from the birth of the word 'television' (1900) to the birth of Nick at Nite (1985). They also reveal what several classic TV stars first jobs were before making it big: Judd Hirsch was in a Listerine commercial, Agnes Moorehead was in Citizen Kane, Bob Denver worked in a grocery store, and Jackie Gleason was a diver(!) in the water follies. There's also a handy guide to the 39 countries where I Love Lucy airs so you know where you will never be without I Love Lucy. Sheila James Kuehl (Zelda, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis), Clint Eastwood, Nancy Kulp (Ms. Hathaway, Beverly Hillbillies), Sonny Bono, and Fred Gandy (Gopher, The Love Boat) all ran for political office. Kuehl, Eastwood, Bono, and Grandy won their races. Kuehl continues to serve on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and was the first openly gay California legislator. Eastwood served as mayor of Carmel, California from 1986 to 1988. Bono would represent California's 44th district in the House of Representatives from 1995 until his death in 1998. Grandy would represent Iowa in the House of Representative from 1987 to 1995 and unsuccessfully run for governor. Nancy Kulp would run for the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania in 1984. A Democrat in a heavily Republican district, Kulp was an underdog and her chances faded even more when former co-star Buddy Ebsen recorded radio ads attacking her. She lost with 33% of the vote.

We then have an overview of actor Michael Burns who began acting in an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and would go on to play Blue Boy in "The LSD Story" of Dragnet 1967. Burns is currently a professor emeritus of history at Holyoke University. The magazine then gives you a short scene from Blue Boy and finger puppets.

Yes, they even give you cubes of LSD.

The original idea of several shows are revealed including The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Tyler Moore, Taxi, and The Partridge Family. Nick at Nite then adds lyrics to various instrumental-only theme songs thus ruining them forever. Nick at Nite then gives the TV history of counter culture (hippies, beatniks).

There is an article on fashion and how today's designers go back to classic TV for some inspiration. There's then an article on negative reviews that classic TV shows received. "The stinkeroo of all time!" (1964 review of Gilligan's Island, 1964-1967). "Show's chances look slim." (1970 review of The Partridge Family, 1970-1974). "Should soon be extinct from Nielsen malnutrition." (1969 review of The Brady Bunch, 1969-1974). "Should sell a lot of cigarettes." (1951 review of I Love Lucy, 1951-1957).

We have a Barbara Eden as Jeannie pull-out
poster for the guys.

And a John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino pull-out poster for the ladies.

They do an interview with TV show collector James Comisar who has memorabilia from The Honeymooners, Dragnet, Batman, Get Smart, and dozens of other shows. It's actually quite interesting. You can learn and see much more at his website.

A reprint of the very first Dobie Gillis story takes up five pages and is the longest feature in this magazine which is very disappointing considering all the material Nick at Nite had to work with. There is an article on "lost" TV episodes featuring original Honeymooners sketches, the 1966-69 version of Doctor Who, a couple of pilots, and more. Plus, last but not least, six degrees of separation of a bunch of TV stars.

The magazine ends with a 10th anniversary examination that you mail in to get a Nick at Nite merit badge. My mom filled it out, got every answer right, and didn't mail it in! We could've been royalty but instead our lives remained the same.

The 37 greatest episodes ever!

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I'm covering all my bases. I'm asking for 37 things this year along with my usual request for cold, hard cash and I want to make sure I get everything. If you and Santa somehow get me the same stuff, we can just return it and get me something I didn't get from the list. 2020 sucked butt and I refuse to have 2021 suck the same way.

Welcome Back

I put up a poll back on the 22nd wanting people to vote on what would be the future of Watch This Space. One person voted. But during the time the poll was up I kind of figured out what I want to do. I do want to restore Watch This Space and I have things queued up to begin later this week including a new Story Series and Thursday Comics. A new but familiar feature will be this one: Capt. Brian's Whiz-Bang which will be like a simple blog entry focusing on whatever I want to talk about today that will end with commentary on "The Born Loser." If you don't want to read what I write then you can skip on down to the comic.

You may know "Whiz-Bang" from the early days of Fawcett Publications. Captain Billy's Whiz-Bang was started by Wilford Fawcett (Captain Billy) in 1919 and was a bawdy cartoon and humor magazine. It lasted until 1936 and Wilford died of a heart attack in 1940. Fawcett Publications went to Wilford's sons who began publishing comic books ultimately publishing Whiz Comics #2 which introduced Captain Marvel, now Shazam!.

"The best defense is a good offense. Know who said that? Mel, the cook on Alice."

But seriously, it's suggested that Chairman Mao first opined what would become "the best defense is a good offense." His quote was "the only real defense is active defense." The same strategy was also discussed by Machiavelli and Sun Tzu. I find it sad that a phrase used for war is now considered a sports analogy.