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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Thursday, September 1, 2005
Again we indulge my passion for the classiest crime-fighter of the Golden Age of Comics by presenting this cover of BLONDE PHANTOM #16 [Winter, 1947-1948].
BLONDE PHANTOM: You mustn't stop me! One of those models is a MURDERESS!
GAL WITH GUN: And I say YOU'RE the killer! And this GUN says you're not entering that fashion show till it's over!
MAN: It's time for the BLONDE PHANTOM to get here! If she doesn't arrive in 30 seconds - it'll be TOO LATE!
Me, I think the pistol-packing redhead on this cover has every reason to be suspicious of the Blonde Phantom. What woman would go to a fashion show wearing a dress EVERYBODY has already seen her in many times before?
Syd Shores pencilled and inked this cover, Stan Lee was the editor of the issue, and the contents were as follows:
Blonde Phantom in "Modeled for Murder" (8 pages) with pencils by Shores and inks likely by Louis Ferstadt;
Captain America in "Murder at the Mardi Gras" (6 pages) with pencils by Allen Simon and art by Al Avison;
Hey, Look (1-page gag) by Harvey Kurtzman; and,
Blonde Phantom in "The Sultan Strikes" with pencils by Shores and inks by Jack Binder.
The OFFICIAL OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE claims Don Rico pencilled the Captain America story, but I think the GRAND COMICS DATABASE [www.comics.org] is generally more accurate. Overstreet also opines that a near-mint condition copy of this book would sell for around $1575.
There were two recently completed eBay sales of BLONDE PHANTOM #16. A very good/fine copy rated 5.0 by CGC changed hands for $285 on a single "Buy It Now" bid. A fine/very fine copy rated 7.0 was sold for $515 on 13 bids.
Look for more fabulous Blonde Phantom covers in upcoming TOTs. I just like them, okay?
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COMICS IN THE COMICS
Tom Wilson's ZIGGY is always good for comics-related and self-referential humor. The above panel ran on July 11. And the three below are from July 20, July 26, and August 16:
If you like ZIGGY as much as I do - and, though I used to mock him, I have since developed a fondness for the little guy - you can visit his website at:
www.ziggy.com
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TONY POLLS
Here's one of last week's TONY POLLS questions:
SIN CITY is available on DVD, but I haven't rented it yet. How would you "grade" this movie?
Near-Mint.....46.59%
Fine.....25%
Very Good.....14.77%
Good.....5.68%
Fair.....5.68%
Poor.....2.27%
What with over 75% of you thinking this movie was very good or better, it's a sure thing I'm going to be renting and watching it as soon as I have an evening off.
Since I'm planning to switch to an online rental service soon, I should have also asked for your votes on whether I should go with BLOCKBUSTER or NETFLIX. Any thoughts?
While you're collecting those thoughts, you can find and vote on this week's TONY POLLS at:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
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TONY'S YEAR-OLD MAILBOX
Way back on August 27, 2004, I wrote about an issue of ANDERS AND, a Danish Disney comic book given to me by long-time pal DWIGHT DECKER. Not surprising when one considers my inability to read or speak Danish, I made an error.
Here's what I wrote:
"Anders And" is the Danish name for Donald Duck. The comic is 64 pages of full-color fun and features brand-new stories produced for the foreign market. Among the familiar names in the credits of these stories were writer/artist Don Rosa and writers Don Markstein and Stefan Petrucha. I tried to figure out what this comic would cost in American currency and, as best as I can determine, it came to $3.17. That sounds like a good deal to me.
"And" is "duck" in Danish, but "Anders" seems to be a proper name other than "Donald." As an American citizen, I'm entitled to be ignorant about such things. If you question that, it's because you love the terrorists.
Horace Horsecollar is called "Klavs Krikke" in this comic. He appears in a story written by Don Markstein. These also seem to be proper names, but it could be that there's no words for "bipedal horse wearing bondage collar" in the Danish language.
Gyro Gearloose is called "Faetter Vims" here, which, for all I know, is Danish for "Bill Gates." The Gyro story shown here was written by Stefan Petrucha.
Uncle Scrooge is "Onkel Joakim" here. As you might expect, "Onkel" is Danish for "uncle" while "Joakim" is, naturally, Danish for "Bill Gates." The story shown here is the first chapter of a Don Rosa story called "Den Sorte Ridder Glorper Igen." I'm going to guess it means "When Titans Clash!"
I love getting comics in languages other than my own and that includes "British." Feel free to send them my way, especially if they reprint comics written by me or, as I'm known among the Danes, "Grund Hoved." It must be a term of endearment because my Danish friends always smile when they say it.
DON MARKSTEIN, another long-time pal, wrote to correct these errors and I'm just now running his note:
I don't know what it is, but lately, you've been saying all sorts of stuff that draws comment from me. This time, it's to point out a reasonably major (but very understandable) error.
Gyro's name in Danish is "Georg Gearloose." Faetter Vims is Fethry Duck, a very minor character in America (he appeared in a few Gold Key comics starting about the late 1960s or so), but who's been in a lot of Danish stories in the past few years. That's Fethry with Gyro in the picture you posted. I know this because like Dwight, I'm on the Egmont mailing list, so (unlike Dwight, who actually speaks that language, among others) I get to puzzle over this stuff on a weekly basis.
What might not have been evident from that comic Dwight gave you is that each issue of ANDERS AND comes in a plastic bag, and which usually contains a toy as well. Some of those toys are very clever, too -- such as a little whistle shaped like a duck bill, that quacks. (I keep it on a section of my desk devoted to duck toys, figurines, etc., which my grandson, Nathan, going on 3, likes to steal from whenever he visits me in my office. That whistle is one of his favorites.)
One of the cleverest recent toys (and they've had some really good ones) is a combination gun and shield -- a water pistol that shoots through the center of an umbrella.
I forgot to mention it at the time, but the ANDERS AN issue I received from Dwight did have the water pistol/umbrella toy. It's very cool, so, naturally, my kids took it away from me.
Thanks for the corrections, Don.
And, as always, thanks to all of you for spending part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stufff.
Tony Isabella
<< 08/31/2005 | 09/01/2005 | 09/02/2005 >>
Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
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840 Damon Drive
Medina, OH 44256
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