Back in the late 1950’s when DC Comics began publishing new adventures of heroes, with golden age names, like the Flash and Green Lantern, etc. The fans and collectors of comic books, like Detroit’s own, Jerry Bails, as well as, Don & Maggie Thompson, and a young Missouri teacher, by the name of Roy Thomas,…
This past weekend was one of the most awesomely fun weekends I’ve ever had. What was so awesome about it, you ask? Why, thank you for asking; I will tell you! Last Thursday was like one of those cosmic convergence things, like when the stars and planets all align in a certain way and when…
One of the nice things about writing for an industry magazine is that I get some degree of inside access to various conventions and catch a lot of things that most attendees wouldn’t have the opportunity to see. Unfortunately, though, this magazine often makes me work for it; they want me to write like, reports…
Nostalgia rules here at Back to the Past, so if no one minds, I’m going to step away from pop culture for a change and indulge in a little childhood nostalgia that’s somewhat fitting in the spirit of St Patrick’s Day. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll leave; pick one. Remember how, when we were kids,…
Whenever a member of any team is taken out of play because of illness or injury, the team has to make adjustments to carry on. Van Halen continued without David Lee Roth, although some of us dispute how well that worked out; the Packers had success post-Brett Favre, which no one can dispute anymore; and…
His flame went out. It’s better to burn out than fade away. He went down in a blaze of glory. He went up in smoke. Those are all of the clichés that immediately come to mind when thinking about the fate of Johnny Storm, whose apparent demise was chronicled recently in Fantastic Four. I thought…
Just how well do we know our four-color heroes? We all know Superman. We all know that as a baby, he was rocketed to our world as his own was in its death throes. We all know that he gained extraordinary powers here on Earth. And we all know that he took on the identity…
Last week, as you’ll remember, I took a shot at the new ratings system set to be implemented by DC Comics in the wake of their dumping the Comics Code Authority. I also jabbed Marvel Comics’ own system, which has been in use for a decade but is different from DC’s, which in turn is…
It’s been a long time since the outdated Comics Code Authority had made headlines, which, ironically, is probably the reason why its long-overdue demise did make headlines. Long powerless, at worst, and symbolic, at best, the CCA recently took its final breath after more than a generation on a respirator, when Archie Comics became the…
“I am wishing you a well, mind at peace within your cell. Covers up, I cast you off. I’ll be watching as you breathe. I lie still, you move. I send you off around the bend.” Around The Bend, from Pearl Jam’s No Code, © 1996. Lyrics by Eddie Vedder No Code, indeed; for very…