Date: 2012 Publisher: Ape Entertainment Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 24 color pages plus one house ad Writers: Buddy Scalera, Lennie Herman Artists: Marcelo Ferreira, Dustin Evans, Deron Bennett, Warren Kremer, Joe Rosen Notable Notes: Rich Rescue travels to Scotland and investigates the Loch Ness monster!
I remember Mayda Munny from the old, classic Richie Rich books – she was a spoiled girl who always wanted Richie to give her more attention, and was always jealous of his girlfriend Gloria. So I was delighted to see her resurrected in this issue of the modern Richie Rich series! I think the new creators did a good job staying true to her roots, while simultaneously giving her a modern make-over!
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Date: November 2000 Publisher: CrossGen Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus house ads, “Delineations” letters page, “Milestones” and fan art Writer: Barbara Kesel Artists: Joshua Middleton, Dexter Vines, Paul Mounts and Dave Lanphear Notable Notes: Sephie goes to the surface!
I’ve heard that we humans are only born with 2 instinctual fears – fear of loud noises and fear of falling – and that the rest of our fears are leaned during life. I don’t know if that is true or not, but it sounds reasonable. Anyway, when I see depictions of people who are falling calmly I always smirk and question the reality of the situation. Usually that occurs in movies, but there is a scene in this issue where that very thing happens. Let me ask you: would you be calm if you were falling to your death? I know I sure wouldn’t be!
Date: October 2003 Publisher: Image Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2013 Price Range: $7.00 – $250.00 Stats: 24 black & white pages Writer: Robert Kirkman Artist: Tony Moore Notable Notes: 1st issue of the insanely popular zombie series!
I resisted reading this issue for a long time. Why? Well, because I’m not a huge fan of zombies that’s why. I mean I don’t hate them, it’s just that I kind of rejected them on the grounds that “everybody is doing it.” Anyway, on a long bus ride I finally jumped in and read this issue on my Android tablet and was quite surprised and how much I enjoyed it! Here’s what I thought of this landmark first issue:
Date: January 1998 Publisher: Cartoon Books Cover Price: $2.95 2013 NM Price: $5.00 Stats: 20 black & white pages plus ads, “Tales from the Bog” preview, PogoFest notes and “Bone-A-Fides” letters page. Written & Drawn by: Jeff Smith Cover Colors by: Elizabeth Lewis Notable Notes: 2 Bone cousins are chased by big, evil creatures!
Wow, these Bone fellows sure seem to be on the run a lot! In fact, that is about all that takes place in this sub-par issue. Perhaps if I had done some running myself it would have been a better use of my time! Chalk this reading experience up as the worst issue since the horrible Spawn #21!
Date: August 1977 Publisher: Archie Enterprises, Inc. Cover Price: 35¢ 2013 Price Range: $1.00 – $10.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads Writer: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: A smorgasbord of gags!
After reading this issue I looked up the series on Wikipedia and was surprised to find that it had a long and varied history! Yes, it seems like it was trying to capitalize on Mad Magazine’s success, but it also produced some famous characters and searched relentlessly for its own unique personality. I’m not so sure this issue succeeded, but maybe the series as a whole did. Here’s what I thought of it…
Over the past year I have been searching for web sites where I can read comic books online for free . Guess what? There are loads of places to get free comics, and a lot of sites for online comic books too – but it has been difficult to find high quality sites which are legal. Nevertheless I persevered and have scoured the web looking for the best sites. (* See below for the criteria I used when searching for good sites) Anyway, I have finally come up with a list of what I believe are the 11 best sites for free, online comic books:
Date: August 1996 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $2.50 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 20 black & white pages plus “Letters to Akiko”, a 2-page mini-story and one house ad Story & Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: Akiko and friends discover a mysterious island!
Have you seen the movie The Life of Pi ? It was a great and very fascinating show. This issue of Akiko kind of reminded me of that movie – what with all the crazy different creatures in the same boat, and the magic that eventually happens between them. A cool story – in both cases!
Date: June 1974 Publisher: Whitman Comics (Gold Key) Cover Price: 20¢ 2013 Price Range: $4.00 – $60.00 Stats: 27 color pages plus ads Writer and Artist: Carl Barks Notable Notes: A reprint of Uncle Scrooge #18 from June 1957
I have a special place in my heart for Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck and the 3 nephews. I have loved these Walt Disney characters for a long time, and a big part of the reason for that love is that I read many duck comics (like this one!) when I was a kid. The great art, classic adventures and funny stories were a blast to read! After reading Uncle Scrooge #211 for the first post of this site I figured it was high time to give another one of these classics a try.
Date: October 2000 Publisher: CrossGen Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus a 6 page prequel of “The First”, house ads, “Delineations” letters page and “Generator” news column Writer: Barbara Kesel Artists: Joshua Middleton, Dexter Vines, Michael Atiyeh and Dave Lanphear Notable Notes: Sephie flies back to Meridian.
Have you ever piloted a small sail boat all by yourself? If so then I am extremely jealous! I never have, but I’ve always wanted to do that. It doesn’t help that I live in a land-locked state. The Great Salt Lake is nearby, and there are people who sail on it – so maybe I’ll have to give it a try. Anyway, those are the thoughts that came to my mind as I read this issue of Meridian – because in this book we find a young girl piloting a small air ship all by herself as she tries to flee home. Good stuff indeed!
Date: October 1979 Publisher: Harvey Comics Cover Price: 40¢ 2013 Price Range: $7.00 – $1.00 Stats: 21 color pages plus ads and a 2 page text story Writers: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: It pokes fun of 2 popular 1970s TV series!
Do you ever watch old TV shows – like from the 1960s, 70s or 80s? I do, especially now that it is so easy to do with internet and video services like Netflix. I think “Bewitched” and “Magnum P.I.” are both still loads of fun to watch! Here’s an issue which brings to mind some of the popular series from the 1970s and makes use of one of the funnest characters in the Harvey universe to do so: Jackie Jokers!
Date: January 1984 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads, Krazy Knits and Club News Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Dan DeCarlo Jr., Jimmy DeCarlo, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: Archie meets the Ga-Ga’s!
I know this is a comic book, and that Archie is perennially lucky when it comes to girls, but I still want to visit his laundromat! How come the laundromats in this issue (and TV series and commercials everywhere) are always full of nothing but beautiful women? Sure, I’ve seen a few pretty girls when visiting laundromats myself, but nothing like this. Sigh, oh well.
Date: 2012 Publisher: Monkeybrain Comics Cover Price: 99¢ Stats: 13 color pages Writer: Paul Tobin Artist: Colleen Coover Notable Notes: 1st appearance of the artful-dodger known as Bandette!
I enjoy the older, adventure comics in the style of Tintin, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover Bandette! I had been wanting to read some Monkeybrain comics for a while, and this was a great opportunity – so I jumped at it. I’m glad I did because this was one fun book that I recommend you give a try!
Date: May 1994 Publisher: Image Comics Cover Price: $1.95 2013 Price Range: $1.00 – $9.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus “The Spawning Ground” letters page, Image Info, fan art and ads Story & Art: Todd McFarlane Other Artists: Mark Pennington, Tom Orzechowski and Steve Oliff Notable Notes: Um… low print run?
Years ago I sold almost all the issues of Spawn that I owned. I only kept 4 issues that I thought might be valuable some day. Over the last few months, as I re-read these issues, I realized why I sold the others off: because Spawn comics suck! OK, I’ll admit that Spawn #9 was pretty good – but that’s it. I have not read another Spawn issue that I deemed worthy of re-reading. This is the last one I’ll review for this site… thank goodness!
Date: October 1977 Publisher: Harvey Publications, Inc. Cover Price: 35¢ 2013 Price Range: $1.00 – $10.00 Stats: 21 color pages plus ads and “Richie’s Mailbox” letters page Writers: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: Richie and Casper discover the value of a penny!
Have you heard about these people who do extreme up-trading? You know, they start with some small object (or amount of money) and then try to see who can get the biggest or best or most expensive object just by bartering? I’ve heard of some pretty cool things, like people who have acquired cars that way! This issue demonstrates that concept as the little master of money himself, Richie Rich, goes about doing that very thing!
Date: July(?) 1996 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $2.50 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 black & white pages plus “Letters to Akiko” and one house ad Story & Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: Sea serpents and acid worms!
Do creepy-crawlies give you the creepy-crawlies? I am average when it comes to being squeamish, I guess. I don’t usually freak out around bugs… but if you were to put a spider on me I might do the mad “get-it-off-me” dance! Here is a story where Akiko and her friends must show great self-control to overcome some creepy monsters!
