F.O.O.M. -- Friends Of Ol' Marvel!

First there was the Merry Marvel Marching Society (of which I was a proud member), then came Marvelmania International which lasted only a few years (which I might've joined but I don't remember getting anything). But after all that the Bronze Age Marvel fan got F.O.O.M. which stood for "Friends Of Ol' Marvel" (which I didn't join because I was too cool for it at the time--I got over that).

This fan club managed to hang on through most of the rest of the 70's putting out its final issue as the rise of the direct sales market began to glimmer.

I've gathered several issues of F.O.O.M. over the years, though I never saw an issue during the time of its run. They're fun, like most fanzines of the time, at once breezy, friendly, and informative.

Above is a gallery of the F.O.O.M. covers, the best scans I could gather from various sources.


Oh and where did the name come from? It was a favorite sound effect at Marvel, but perhaps a certain inscrutable dragon knows for sure.


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Bye To The Big Apple?

I'm a geezer of a comics fan. I've read tons of comics (literally) over the years and I've seen so many stories that I find little if anything surprises me anymore.

Superman dies! Big deal -- he'll get better. Spider-Man weds! No matter -- he'll recover. Batman kills Robin! Sheesh -- it's about frakkin' time.

It doesn't matter what the story is, whether it's about Captain America retiring yet again or the FF losing a member yet again or the Legion of Superheroes getting another series which bombs yet again. I've seen it all, twice or thrice or more.

So it's a real wonderment that I come to you today and say that a comics related news story actually startled me. I'll give you a moment to check it out.

Here's the link:

DC In New York City - Should It Stay Or Should It Go?

Now that my friends is news. New York City has been the headquarters for comic book production since the beginning of the industry, since Moses brought the first continuities down from the mountaintop. It was a logical enough place for it to begin, as most publishing in general was centered there. But NYC has become most associated with comics, in a way no other American city has. That cityscape is the background for superheroics.

Sure First Comics made a big deal of being in Chicago, little AC Comics is centered in Florida, and my beloved Charlton thrived for decades in the Connecticut hamlet of Derby, but by and large comics have always been a Big Apple phenomenon. At least in my imagination.

It's certainly true that Marvel has more affinity for the city, with Spider-Man's mileau firmly rooting the reader in a recognizable NYC. DC Comics have always had their fictional metros like Gotham, Metropolis, Coast City, Central City and such. But NYC is where the real thing we called National or DC Comics has always been, and the nature of the big city has always been part of its mystique. The hurly burly, the kinetics of sophisticated creativity is a downright cliche.

Or at least that's what I think.

Now if DC should leave and head out to the "Left Coast" something seemingly permanent and immutable will have at long last shifted. The uber-urban domain of Mort, Carmine, and Julie will be left behind. Forget all the "Elseworld" tales you've read, this is really shattering. The universe as we've known it will truly never be the same.

Or at least that's what I feel.


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The Wit & Wisdom Of King Kong #3

"A scenic castle divided cannot stand." -- King "Abe" Kong

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Dagwood The Angler!

The Bumsteads sure must love fish. Dagwood even dreams about them.


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The Witch Who Came From The Sea!

When I stumbled across the poster above at Wrong Side of the Art I immediately flashed on a classic Frank Frazetta painting.


That painting served as the cover for Vampirella #11.


Clearly the unknown artist of the movie poster was swiping the classic Frazetta image and with largely good effect, though the poster lacks the awesome mood of a typical Frazetta image.


A little research taught me that this movie, though unknown to me at the time, is something of a notorious object. It is a "video nasty", one of a clutch of movies deemed too risque or horrific for the British movie going public and so not given any seal of approval by the British movie board.


But this movie, despite some grotesque nods to exploitation apparently also has a serious core about a woman descending into madness and how that affects the people around her.

I can't say I much want to see this one, having glimpsed a few scenes on the internet, but I give it credit for knowing what artwork to steal to hype itself.

And I bet that decapitated head is a swipe from another source, but I haven't found it yet.

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Quarantine!

I happened to catch the movie Quarantine on TV a few weeks back. I had a dim recollection of the ad for the movie, the one where the girl gets dragged suddenly back into the darkness. It was a genuinely creepy moment in a genuinely creepy ad.

But would the movie be scary?

It was by and large. This is one of those movies in the cinema verite style of


The Blair Witch Project


and Cloverfield.

The premise is straightforward enough. A reporter and her camera man are following a team of firemen/paramedics as they respond to a call in an older apartment building filled with a wide assortment of different types of people. They find an old woman suffering from a mysterious disease that seems to make her crazy and dangerous, as she attacks the firemen and the cops who also responded to the call. It spirals from there as whatever afflicts the woman seems to be transmitted by biting. The people attempt to get help but the building is put under quarantine and those trying to leave are stopped and threatened with death. Even the cops and the firemen are stranded. The situation gets worse and worse and there are even a few secrets to solve as we do indeed discover the secret of the apartment house.

It's fun, and hectic, and at times really creepy. I thought the mystery did indeed pay off, so the thrill ride was worth the effort.


It seems though this movie is an English-language remake of a Spanish movie titled REC and reports I find say that the Spanish original is even scarier. I need to find it.

I've read that a sequel is in the works, but I despair they can recreate the claustrophobic mania that fueled the first one. These kinds of stories are almost impossible revisit effectively.

This one is recommended, but it's definitely not for kids.

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Cincinnati Comic Expo!

I was put onto the Cincinnati Comic Expo a few months back by BookSteve. Since then, I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this debut comic book fan gathering. The more I read online, the more I think they are really taking time to build up something that might last.


I'm most excited to have a chance to see Murphy Anderson, the longtime DC penciller and inker, a man with one of the most elegant and lush lines in the industry. His Atomic Knights are stupendous and his work on the pencils of Curt Swan transformed my young comics brain.


This Tarzan ad seen in many a DC comic book shows his consumate skill.


Also on hand will be Russ Heath, an artist who specialized in war stories, but who could do crime equally well. Heath is possessed of uncanny draftsman talent and can tell stories effectively and beautifully. His work always seems perfectly nuanced and balanced.


Here is Heath's talent on display in possibly his most famous drawing, the lustrous and ubiquitours ad for Roman Soldiers that served as a back cover for countless comics.


The other draw for me is Moonstone Publishing. I've been a follower of theirs for years, though I've given up monthly comics for the most part. Their Phantom was a fave. I'm looking for a few of their prose collections and I hope to locate them at this convention.


Among the curious aspects of having a comic convention in Cincinnati, is the Union Terminal whic can be seen clearly as part of the Dave Aikins poster above. Union Terminal, one of the landmarks of the cityscape (once upon a time a hub of commerce, but now a museum) was the real building that inspired the Hall of Justice seen for so many years on the Super Friends cartoon show.



Day or night.



As you can see there is little denying the Hall of Justice's inspiration.

The use of the Roebling Suspension Bridge in the wonderful Allen Bellman poster art is inspired. A quick comparison of the real thing and Bellman's wonderful rendering shows how rooted in reality it is.



The folks putting this show together really seem to be hitting the right notes, and if possible I plan on attending, having a bit of fun, and maybe finding a few treasures. I need to save my nickels right now though.

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