The Ottawa Comic Book Guy

This time I can honestly say Little Caveman dug deep, he went three-quarters into a box before picking this one. He picked Superman Family Issue 180(Nov 1976). A little history behind the title. Superman Family is the continuation of one of DC's longest running titles dedicated to a side or spin-off character, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, which made it's debut with the September-October 1954 issue. At the time of first publication, the Superman television show was on TV and Jimmy Olsen as portrayed by Jack Larson was one of the most popular characters from the era. The success of the title convinced DC to release a series featuring Lois Lane (titled Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane ) in March/April 1958. After Supergirl made her debut in 1959, she eventually received her on magazine in 1972 after her run in Adventure Comics finished with issue 424. The three characters have been intertwined on many occasions, and even occasionally showed up in the same story (exa

I preface this by saying that even though I live in Aylmer, I grew up in Ottawa and I have an affinity for the city that transcends what most people feel (except maybe Batman for Gotham City.) So I feel a point of pride in the comic/sci-fi world whenever something or someone makes it from our little burg. (Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock comes to mind right away.) So today I am going to review a book that I picked up at Ottawa Comiccon, inked by local artist Craig Taillefer, based on Bram Stoker's Dracula This book is a collection of a four-issue miniseries published by Caliber Comics. Written by Steve Jones, and penciled by Robert Schneiders and inked by Craig, this mini-series strives to be a faithful reproduction of the original novel by Bram Stoker. Well, as someone that has read the original novel on numerous occasions, I can say, they got it right. The writing captured the essence of the novel and I didn't feel that anything was left out, and since there are several si

...they call the House of Mystery. Inhabited at various times by denizens of DC's Supernatural line, this book has had everything under its brand. This article (unlike others I have written to this point), will only deal with the Pre-Crisis title that lasted 321 issues. Below, is a picture of Issue #1 (Dec-Jan 1951/52), featuring the story "Wanda is a Werewolf." House of Mystery  started as DC's entry into the horror genre as the people who ran it discovered that super-hero comics were on the wane and that horror comics were all vogue, mostly due to EC Comics line. There were several stories per issue (written by various luminaries such as Jack Schiff, and drawn by artists such as Win Mortimer and my personal favourite, Curt Swan). Some of the stories were based on legends from the real world, while others were the providence of the writers themselves. The book began on a bi-monthly schedule, similar to other books of the genre. Some of the interesting stories of

I (jokingly) say that today should be "Random Books My Daughter Picks..." as she technically was the one to pick todday's book (by going, "Hey look at that one!" and my son following with "Yes, that one." They picked on the few Gold Key books I own, the June 1972 issue of Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery  #41. Like most anthology books back then, this book has several stories in it (There are four.) Also, as was the style at th time, the stories are uncredited. (I have done my best here to try and give credit where credit is due.) Story 1 - (most sources credit only Hy Elsman as artist and only with a question mark) called A Study in Terror:  Author Ron Ramon has invited some guests to stay in his secluded home, on an island in the middle of the lake. After a storm whips up keeping his guests from returning to the mainland, the group spots a strange beast staring at them. At the house, Ron's wife Ilda goes to fetch him, and while she's g

Good day, my fellow comic denizens, I have just arrived back home from Ottawa Comiccon, the 2018 edition and I can honestly say, that from a comic book perspective, never had I have had so much success at a convention (I almost did last year, but I was one book short.) Pictured above is the first comic book I have bought as an investment in my life. As the first appearance of Power Girl, I like to think that this book (like her obvious...qualities) will appreciate larger in time. But it is a book I have coveted for a long time and since I have completed my Supergirl goal, I went for it. I managed to sit through many comic panels this year, I attended the one Dan Parent of Archie Comics fame (hosted by Josh Stafford of the Mayfair Theater, also known by many as a huge comic fan in his own right.) Parent talked a lot about the current state of affairs at Archie, about Dan Decarlo and his work with him, and talked up his Kickstarter for his project Die, Kitty, Die (you can read abo

Good day, this is a quick post just to talk about some things that have come my way with regards to local (Ottawa, Canada) matters and to this column. First and foremost, Ottawa Comiccon is this weekend. If you haven't got tickets, there are some available, but they are selling out fast. This years edition has a smaller gyest list than previous years, but for the comic fan, they have a fantastic slew of comic book writers and artists this year. Check them out at  http://www.ottawacomiccon.com/ . Also, I have confirmed that Multizone, The Comic Book Shoppe, Kobold's Corner and Myths, Legends and Heroes will be all at the show, so say hi, and more importantly buy something to help them make costs so they can keep going. The Comic Book Shoppe in Nepean, and the Comic Book Shoope on Bank Street are both preparing for their big Midnight Madness Sales that go on during Comiccon. Both locations will be open until midnight. Rob Lussier wrote me to say that this Saturday will b

I picked up the following book last week as an impulse purchase (I don't know what attracted me to the cover.) What surprised me is that it is listed as Cover D. For a 15th issue in a series that, when reading the issue, didn't seem to have any large necessary impact on a killer story line (I found it better than average, but...) That's when I realized, although I am aware of just about a few issues really having a variant cover over the last couple of years (maybe five...ten), but the amount of variants  is almost becoming unwieldy. Back in the beginning days of comics, variants only happened by accident, either by a manufacturers defect (for example, double-stapled covers, missing inner pages, etc..), or a printer's error (number changes on issue, price changes.) There are very few examples of variants until just after the Second World War. At that point, Canada created true variants by limiting US cultural product importation (due to wartime import restrictions

..,.and also with you. It was suggested to me a little late to perhaps do a history of Marvel's Star Wars series for today, but I also did not have any free time this week whatsoever anyay. SO instead, enjoy this quick gallery of  books about the Galaxy Far Far Away... I like the last one pictured because I bought and read it recently. I hope to have a real article soon. Ottawa News and Notes - With the exception of Myths, Legends and Heroes on Bank Street, none of the Ottawa retailers have anything major planned for Free Comic Book Day. Check out this link for what is going on: https://www.facebook.com/mythslegendsandheroes/?hc_ref=ARRZiPBjLAkRXMXWJfib6qNd7yb4kZe4mUZ8h6fT0GH-OSq7vHntqDIeeP44WEr5TSY&fref=nf . As for the Comic Book Shoppe, they are preparing for their annual Midnight Madness sales at both locations that traditionally happen during Ottawa Comiccon. I will be doing at least one article on the Con this year, but I ill not do the tr