Star Wars Legacy. Volume 1. Number 11

Star Wars Legacy. Volume 1. Number 11
April 2007 | 26 pages | PDF | 17.4MB

Writer: John Ostrander; Artist: Jan Duursema, Dan Parsons
Cover Artist: Jan Duursema; Colorist: Brad Anderson
Genre: Star Wars, Science-Fiction, Action/Adventure

Cade Skywalker takes up a lightsaber once again--but not for the reason the Jedi had hoped!

In fact, some among the Jedi are becoming suspicious of Cade and his undisciplined power. Haunted by the tragedies of his own life and the actions of his ancestors, Cade's denial of the past could be laying the seeds for a terrifying future. Amidst the ruins of his childhood, a decision will lead to a discovery, bringing Cade that much closer to his destiny.

Meanwhile, Cade's old allies Deliah Blue and Jariah Syn face uncertain futures of their own, betrayed and delivered into the hands of a deadly enemy they thought they'd left behind. Whether or not they live to see tomorrow relies on what they know about the last Skywalker heir--and what they're willing to reveal!

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Wrath of the Titans. Volume 1. Number 1

Wrath of the Titans. Volume 1. Number 1
May 2007 | 26 pages | PDF | 15.7MB

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Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 5

Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 5 (of 5)
June 2001 | 24 pages | CBZ | 8.7MB

Writer: Mike Kennedy; Artist: Carlos Meglia; Letterer: Steve Dutro;
Colorist: David Stewart; Genre: Star Wars, Science-Fiction

Never trust a scoundrel, especially one that's smiling. As the race for the fabled Vassilika culminates in a seven-way free-for-all and a mad-dash for freedom, it's every being for himself and partners be damned! But as Han, Lando, and the rest of the competitors soon learn, the most dangerous enemy is the one you can't see...Wrapping up the exciting Underworld series and featuring a painted cover by Carlos Meglia!

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Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 4

Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 4
March 2001 | 24 pages | CBZ | 6.3MB

Writer: Mike Kennedy; Artist: Carlos Meglia; Letterer: Steve Dutro;
Colorist: David Stewart; Genre: Star Wars, Science-Fiction

There's a reason nobody ventures out beyond the Outer Rim, but that reason isn't enough to dissuade the race of bounty hunters on the trail of the Yavin Vassilika... Finally located on display in the center of a primitive village, one would think it'd be easy pickings, but that sort of assumption can get you sentenced to a bizarre and painful death, as Han and Lando find out the hard way. Sure, the natives may look peaceful, but "peace" is a relative term... one that Boba Fett is prepared to redefine for them.

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Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 3

Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 3
February 2001 | 24 pages | CBZ | 6.4MB

Writer: Mike Kennedy; Artist: Carlos Meglia; Letterer: Steve Dutro;
Colorist: David Stewart; Genre: Star Wars, Science-Fiction

It's easy to get lost on the high seas of Mon Calamari, and when you're 8-feet tall and covered with hair, that's a prospect second only to Hell... Han, Chewie, and the rest of the Millennium Falcon's passenger list scour the floating city of Mon Ubris for the man who can lead them to the fabled Vassilika of Yavin. Unfortunately his trail leads out across the vast ocean plains towards the mysterious Bank of Knowledge. Bossk and his fellow bounty hunters might want to think twice before crossing their paths, however, as there's not much meaner than a water-logged Wookiee!

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Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 2

Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 2
January 2001 | 24 pages | CBZ | 5.9MB

Writer: Mike Kennedy; Artist: Carlos Meglia; Letterer: Steve Dutro;
Colorist: David Stewart; Genre: Star Wars, Science-Fiction

The race is on as Han Solo and Chewie search the planet Kalkovak for information leading to the legendary Vassilika of Yavin. Things get lively, though, when hardcore bounty hunters Bossk, Dengar, and IG-88 show up with a laundry list of grudges to settle! And there's nothing more explosive than bad blood between scoundrels! Throw in a swaggering Lando Calrissian, a seductive Jozzel Moffet, and a band of curious Jawas, and you've got yourself the fixings for a visit the locals aren't too likely to forget!

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Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 1

Star Wars Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika. Volume 1. Number 1
December 2000 | 24 pages | CBZ | 6.5MB

Writer: Mike Kennedy; Artist: Carlos Meglia; Letterer: Steve Dutro;
Colorist: David Stewart; Genre: Star Wars, Science-Fiction

Remember when Han Solo was still a scoundrel? Ah, the good ol' days... A group of Hutts decide to place a wager to see who really carries the most weight throughout the Galactic Underworld. When it comes to setting a goal for this contest they decide to hire crews to seek out the fabled Yavin Vassilika -- a legendary treasure which most sentient beings believe to be fictional. The best and brightest rogues of the Star Wars universe are recruited, and you won't want to miss it as Boba Fett, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Greedo, Lando, Dengar, and others team up and square off to decide who is the best scoundrel in the galaxy!

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Number 226

Johnny Peril

Howard Purcell was a longtime artist at DC Comics, with a comic book career going back to 1940. He rarely signed his work. He drew this excellent cover of Showcase#30 in 1961, inked by Sheldon Moldoff.He also drew a strip I like, the Kirby-styled "Black Knight" feature from Marvel Super-Heroes #17 in 1968. He received credit for this one.
Purcell was a comic book journeymen who labored over a drawing board for many years and drew a lot of features. This is one of his back-up "Johnny Peril" strips for All-Star Comics. This particular episode appeared in #45, February-March 1949. The art is moody and effective, and the story, a variation on Aladdin's lamp from The Arabian Nights, sent me into a fantasy world for awhile. What would I wish for if I had a genie? Hey, I'm not greedy. For starters, I think 10 mint copies of Action Comics #1, which I'd auction off, one a year.

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Cherry Poptart. Issue 7

Cherry Poptart. Issue 7
1988 | 44 pages | CBR | 16.7MB

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Cover Girl. Volume 1. Number 1

Cover Girl. Volume 1. Number 1
May 2007 | 28 pages | PDF | 13.2MB

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Star Wars Dark Times. Limited Series. Volume 1. Number 1

Star Wars Dark Times. Limited Series. Volume 1. Number 1
October 2006 | 24 pages | PDF | 16.8MB
Writer: Welles Hartley, Mick Harrison; Artist: Douglas Wheatley
Cover Artist: Douglas Wheatley; Colorist: Ronda Pattison
Genre: Star Wars, Science-Fiction, Action/Adventure

"For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire."
--Ben Kenobi

The dark times are here. Even as the worlds of the former Republic are drawn into the iron grip of Palpatine's Empire, the galaxy seems adrift in a sea of chaos, lawlessness, and despair.

On Coruscant, Darth Vader waits for his Master to reveal his vision for the future. But is there a plan beyond obtaining power? On New Plympto, Jedi Master Dass Jennir leads a Nosaurian army in a war they have already lost. Is this what it now means to be a Jedi?

Dark Times #1 is the gateway to a new era in Star Wars history, an era where the future is grim, evil is on the rise, and all paths seem to lead nowhere.

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Number 225

Bill Everett puts the bite on

Bill Everett drew great stories for the Atlas horror comics. He was also tapped to do some horror-comedy for Atlas' short-lived Mad imitations. "Drag-ula" came from Crazy #2, 1954.

The dialog is taken from old vaudeville and radio Yiddish-dialect comedians. There's some fake German, too. I have a low tolerance for this sort of dialect when it's written. It's hodd to ridd, dollink! The art is good, though. Enchoy, heppy Peppy's ridders!

Intergalactic. Volume 1. Number 1

Intergalactic. Volume 1. Number 1
June 2007 | 26 pages | PDF | 15.1MB

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Hellboy Animated. The Yearning. Volume 1. Number 1

Hellboy Animated. The Yearning. Volume 1. Number 1
May 2007 | 25 pages | PDF | 17MB

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Epic Illustrated Magazine. Issue 5

Epic Illustrated Magazine. Issue 5 (April 1981)
66 pages | CBR | 26.5MB

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Star Wars. Volume 1. Number 1

Star Wars. Volume 1. Number 1
July 1977 | 20 pages | CBR | 4.7MB

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Number 224

The gold key

I want you to click on the picture of this cover of Twilight Zone #4 from August 1963, and tell me what's happening in this painting. Go ahead and look. I'll wait until you're finished.Back so soon? I was practicing the Twilight Zone theme music on my kazoo. You're puzzled, but you're right, there is nothing happening on the cover. What we see is a European street scene, and the silhouette of a figure on the wet cobblestones. I don't know how many covers there were that got away with this, but while the painting is mysterious, evoking a rainy night, this is not a typical cover of a comic book, even a Gold Key comic. I don't know who the cover artist is.

The story this cover illustrates--and we know that because the story is called "The Secret Of The Key," and there's a key in the cover painting--is drawn by master comic artist Alex Toth. This is a wonderful 10-pager by Toth, with great drawing. Among his other talents, Toth was excellent at period pieces. He also liked actor Errol Flynn, whose face adorns the lead character, a thief who steals the gold key. And yes, the object is a gold key, just like the name of the comic book company.

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#006. The top 100 books of all time

Full list of the 100 best works of fiction, alphabetically by author, as determined from a vote by 100 noted writers from 54 countries as released by the Norwegian Book Clubs. Don Quixote was named as the top book in history but otherwise no ranking was provided.

Albert Camus, France, (1913-1960), The Stranger

Alfred Doblin, Germany, (1878-1957), Berlin Alexanderplatz

Anton P Chekhov, Russia, (1860-1904), Selected Stories

Astrid Lindgren, Sweden, (1907-2002), Pippi Longstocking

Charles Dickens, England, (1812-1870), Great Expectations

Chinua Achebe, Nigeria, (b. 1930), Things Fall Apart

Dante Alighieri, Italy, (1265-1321), The Divine Comedy

Denis Diderot, France, (1713-1784), Jacques the Fatalist and His Master

DH Lawrence, England, (1885-1930), Sons and Lovers

Doris Lessing, England, (b.1919), The Golden Notebook

Edgar Allan Poe, United States, (1809-1849), The Complete Tales

Elsa Morante, Italy, (1918-1985), History

Emily Bronte, England, (1818-1848), Wuthering Heights

Ernest Hemingway, United States, (1899-1961), The Old Man and the Sea

Euripides, Greece, (c 480-406 BC), Medea

Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain, (1898-1936), Gypsy Ballads

Fernando Pessoa, Portugal, (1888-1935), The Book of Disquiet

Francois Rabelais, France, (1495-1553), Gargantua and Pantagruel

Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924), The Complete Stories; The Trial; The Castle Bohemia

Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881), Crime and Punishment; The Idiot; The Possessed; The Brothers Karamazov

Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Colombia, (b. 1928), One Hundred Years of Solitude; Love in the Time of Cholera

Geoffrey Chaucer, England, (1340-1400), Canterbury Tales

George Eliot, England, (1819-1880), Middlemarch

George Orwell, England, (1903-1950), 1984

Giacomo Leopardi, Italy, (1798-1837), Complete Poems

Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia (c 1800 BC).

Giovanni Boccaccio, Italy, (1313-1375), Decameron

Gunter Grass, Germany, (b.1927), The Tin Drum

Gustave Flaubert, France, (1821-1880), Madame Bovary; A Sentimental Education

Halldor K Laxness, Iceland, (1902-1998), Independent People

Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, (1805-1875), Fairy Tales and Stories

Henrik Ibsen, Norway (1828-1906), A Doll's House

Herman Melville, United States, (1819-1891), Moby Dick

Homer, Greece, (c 700 BC), The Iliad and The Odyssey

Honore de Balzac, France, (1799-1850), Old Goriot

Italo Svevo, Italy, (1861-1928), Confessions of Zeno

Jalal ad-din Rumi, Afghanistan, (1207-1273), Mathnawi

James Joyce, Ireland, (1882-1941), Ulysses

Jane Austen, England, (1775-1817), Pride and Prejudice

Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Brazil, (1880-1967), The Devil to Pay in the Backlands

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany, (1749-1832), Faust (English) (German)

Jonathan Swift, Ireland, (1667-1745), Gulliver's Travels

Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina, (1899-1986), Collected Fictions

Jose Saramago, Portugal, (b. 1922), Blindness

Joseph Conrad, England,(1857-1924), Nostromo

Juan Rulfo, Mexico, (1918-1986), Pedro Paramo

Kalidasa, India, (c. 400), The Recognition of Sakuntala (Abhijnanasakuntalam)

Knut Hamsun, Norway, (1859-1952), Hunger (English) (Hebrew)

Laurence Sterne, Ireland, (1713-1768), The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy

Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910), War and Peace; Anna Karenina; The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories

Louis-Ferdinand Celine, France, (1894-1961), Journey to the End of the Night

Lu Xun, China, (1881-1936), Diary of a Madman and Other Stories

Mahabharata, India, (c 500 BC).

Marcel Proust, France, (1871-1922), Remembrance of Things Past

Marguerite Yourcenar, France, (1903-1987), Memoirs of Hadrian

Mark Twain, United States, (1835-1910), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Michel de Montaigne, France, (1533-1592), Essays

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spain, (1547-1616), Don Quixote

Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt, (b. 1911), Children of Gebelawi

Nikolai Gogol, Russia, (1809-1852), Dead Souls

Nikos Kazantzakis, Greece, (1883-1957), Zorba the Greek

Njaals Saga, Iceland, (c 1300).

Ovid, Italy, (c 43 BC), Metamorphoses

Paul Celan, Romania/France, (1920-1970), Poems

Ralph Ellison, United States, (1914-1994), Invisible Man

Robert Musil, Austria, (1880-1942), The Man Without Qualities

Salman Rushdie, India/Britain, (b. 1947), Midnight's Children

Samuel Beckett, Ireland, (1906-1989), Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable

Sheikh Musharrif ud-din Sadi, Iran, (c 1200-1292), The Orchard

Shikibu Murasaki, Japan, (N/A), The Tale of Genji Genji

Sophocles, Greece, (496-406 BC), Oedipus the King

Stendhal, France, (1783-1842), The Red and the Black

Tayeb Salih, Sudan, (b. 1929), Season of Migration to the North

The Book of Job, Israel. (600-400 BC).

Thomas Mann, Germany, (1875-1955), Buddenbrook; The Magic Mountain

Thousand and One Nights, India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt, (700-1500).

Toni Morrison, United States, (b. 1931), Beloved

Valmiki, India, (c 300 BC), Ramayana (online-link)

Virgil, Italy, (70-19 BC), The Aeneid

Virginia Woolf, England, (1882-1941), Mrs. Dalloway; To the Lighthouse

Vladimir Nabokov, Russia/United States, (1899-1977), Lolita

Walt Whitman, United States, (1819-1892), Leaves of Grass

William Faulkner, United States, (1897-1962), Absalom, Absalom!; The Sound and the Fury

William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616), Hamlet; King Lear; Othello

Yasunari Kawabata, Japan, (1899-1972), The Sound of the Mountain

Source of the information: Guardian Unlimited

Our Army At War #92

A buddy of mine scanned in this issue and I thought I'd do a solo issue review. Here's the cover:

(Cover art by Jerry Grandinetti)

This was the March, 1960 issue. The cover story features Sgt. Rock. Rock is a no-nonsense soldier presiding over a group of men known (ironically) as Easy Company. In this story, he's not only battling the Germans, but his own men who have become superstitious that a rabbit's foot owned by the squad's flame-thrower operator is responsible for their good fortune:

(Art by Joe Kubert, who created Sgt. Rock)

In the end, of course, the soldiers learn their lesson, that their trinkets and charms were not responsible for the luck of Easy Company. Unfortunately, they transfer their superstition:


Comments: Excellent Bob Kanigher story with terrific art as usual by Kubert. More than anything else, it's Kubert's inks that give his characters faces so much emotion.

There is a short feature on the Fighting 41st infantry division, known as the Jungleers for their fighting in the South Pacific, followed by "Bait for a Desert Hawk". A German pilot and an American pilot find their fates tied to a battle between a falcon and a sparrow hawk. The German and the falcon win the first battle, but the American copies a trick used by the sparrow hawk in a rematch and is successful as well.

Comments: Nice compact (6 pages) story with art by Russ Heath.

"D-Day Commandos" is the tale of a pre-invasion commando who is supposed to be guided to his target by three men of the Maquis. However, when he arrives at his first waypoint, he is startled to discover his guide is a boy. The lad turns out to be both brave and intelligent, saving the commando for the next waypoint. This time the person awaiting him is an old man, who again proves resourceful and courageous. Now it is up to the last guide, who is young and manly. And a Nazi intent on sabotaging the mission. The commando realizes that the young boy and the old man did their jobs, so he must do his by defeating the Nazi and blowing up the bridge to help the invasion forces.

Comments: Terrific story, in the compact style of the Silver Age; all the action described above (and more) comes in six pages and only 33 panels.

Number 223

Talking out of his ass

This is a funny Sparky Watts story from Big Shot Comics #83, dated November 1947. When artist/writer Boody Rogers retired from comic books in 1952 he opened some art supply stores in Arizona. This strip may have been a precursor to life in the Southwest, amongst the Saguaro cacti, scorpions, lizards, and I'm sure, even some jackasses.

I've posted a couple of Sparky Watts strips in previous blogs, so click on the "Sparky Watts" or "Boody Rogers" links below to see more of the "World's Strongest Funnyman." If you're seeing a Boody Rogers strip for the first time, then you are discovering one of the most unique and interesting cartoonists of the golden age. Boody had a fertile and unusual comic imagination and his artwork is still fresh today.

Cherry Poptart. Issue 6

Cherry Poptart. Issue 6
1988 | 45 pages | CBR | 16MB

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Dungeons and Dragons: Eberron - Five Nations

Dungeons and Dragons: Eberron - Five Nations
162 pages | PDF | 26.6MB

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India Authentic Shiva. Volume 1. Number 5

India Authentic Shiva. Volume 1. Number 5
September 2007 | 34 pages | PDF | 13.7MB

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Star Wars RPG: The Game Chambers of Questal

Star Wars RPG: The Game Chambers of Questal (Game Manual)
41 pages | PDF | 22.1MB

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Doktor Sleepless. Volume 1. Number 2

Doktor Sleepless. Volume 1. Number 2
August 2007 | 30 pages | PDF | 20.5MB

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Battlestar Galactica. Volume 1. Number 11

Battlestar Galactica. Volume 1. Number 11
August 2007 | 25 pages | PDF | 11.4MB

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#005. Supremo-Adventures of Amitabh Bachchan

On the demand of Qaseem Abbasi and some more friends.

Supremo-Vol1 N11-The Hijack

Reid Fleming - World's Toughest Milkmen. Issue 1

Reid Fleming - World's Toughest Milkmen. Issue 1
36 pages | HQ scan | ZIP | 75MB
Written and drawn by David Boswell

See how Reid deals with grouchy managers, angry customers, hot-rodding hoodlums, and mad dogs - without once missing his favourite TV show!
Ton 'o laffs. Sure-fire fun, morning, noon, and night.

Thanx for this contribution goes to Frédito

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 Number 222


Beyonders Kill!


Happy Thanksgiving! For you beyonders beyond our borders, today in America we are celebrating our own abundance with a feast of gluttony, enough caloric intake per person to nourish a smaller nation for at least a year. We visit with family, then end our celebration in a stupor on the couch watching an American football game. Good eating, but pass the Pepto-Bismol. Our main course is turkey, a very stupid bird. When someone is pretty damn dumb we call them a turkey.

A year ago I celebrated this day with the first annual Comic Book Turkey Award for dumbest comic book story. The recipient is chosen by me, Pappy, the judgment on said story is all mine, and it's purely subjective. Last year's winner was in Pappy's #57, "The Flat Man," from Superior's Journey Into Fear #19. You can read it by following the link.

This year's story can't top "The Flat Man," but "The Day The World Died" from ACG's Forbidden Worlds #5, March-April 1952, comes at least a close second in stupidity. I won't describe the story to you. You'll have to experience it, and the Beyonders, for yourselves. The Grand Comics Database credits the artwork to George Wilhelms. The story earns three turkeys out of a possible four.



While reading it, have another piece of pumpkin pie, with a double shot of whipped cream. Ummmm, good, isn't it? But not nearly as good as the treat you'll get from "The Day The World Died!" And best of all, no calories!

Note: I made new scans of the pages in August, 2012.