Co-founder and Creative director of Bleeding Cool parent company Avatar Press. Bleeding Cool Managing Editor, tech and data wrangler. Machine Learning hobbyist. Vintage paper addict.
Within a period of a few months between mid-1948 and early 1949, DC Comics updated and expanded the origins of three of its most important characters — Batman, Superman, and the Flash. Batman #47 and Superman #53 expand the original origins of these characters with significant new detail. Both of these comics are highly sought […]
According to Comics Guaranty Company's Standard Grading Scale, CGC 10.0 Gem Mint is, "The highest grade assigned. The collectible must have no evidence of any manufacturing or handling defects." In the scheme of things, the CGC 10.0 designation is rarely seen even on modern comics. For example, the CGC Census for the 2018 DC Comics […]
In an industry with a history full of ridiculously creative artists and writers, Basil Wolverton still stands out. With an output that spans from Spacehawk to Powerhouse Pepper, Brain Bats of Venus to the most infamously weird caricatures ever created, Wolverton's imagination seemed limitless. I like to seek out undiscovered country for these posts, and […]
War comics often contain a wealth of historical references just waiting to be unraveled. Blackhawk included such historical touchstones from the very beginning. The Blackhawks' plane was modeled after a real-life aircraft called the Grumman XF5F Skyrocket. The Grumman Skyrocket was part of a massive media blitz in newspapers and magazines across the country from […]
Universal Content Productions is a division of NBCUniversal which focuses on indie and creator-driven work. UCP is responsible for the production of tv series such as Battlestar Galactica, Mr. Robot, Monk, Suits, Umbrella Academy and Psych, among others. They've also recently launched a podcasting arm, UCP Audio. The company now adds comics to its growing […]
Without the perfect combination of luck, patience, and financing, collecting Golden Age Batman and Robin-related comics can seem like a daunting challenge. As a whole, Golden Age Batman and Detective Comics have been among the most sought after comics ever published for decades. It can sometimes seem like every other issue is a key moment […]
Like every fictional detective in the history of history, I hate coincidences. Events that are supposed to have "just happened that way" bug the daylights out of me, particularly in the field of comics. I enjoy trying to find actual reasons lurking under the surface of accepted conventional wisdom. Those reasons are almost always there. […]
According to some notes in a hand-bound volume of miscellaneous Frank Tousey issues of Pluck and Luck written by Ralph Morton, this Mad Anthony Wayne story originally appeared in another publication in some form in 1881. If you happen to be a Batman fan, you might know why Pluck & Luck #256 interests me. General […]
I've been wanting to do a deep dive into the story behind Wonder Woman #7 for quite a while, and the appearance of a Wonder Woman #7 CGC 5.5 copy in the 2020 July 9 – 12 Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction underway at Heritage Auctions right now affords me the perfect opportunity. With […]
All-American Comics #61 is the first appearance Solomon Grundy, of one of the most important super-villains of the Golden Age of comics and a character who has remained a fixture of Gotham up to modern times. Written by Science Fiction great Alfred Bester and drawn by Paul Reinman, this Green Lantern story takes a nursery […]
The American News Company was founded in 1864 by Sinclair Tousey in New York City. During the final days of the Civil War, and the decade beyond, the periodical publishing business exploded, and American News soon came to dominate the distribution of magazines, dime novels, story papers, pulps, comic papers, comic books, and other national […]
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is a maker of scents and oils well-known in fandom circles for products inspired by the likes of creators such as Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker, and franchises like The Dark Crystal, Hellboy, Labyrinth, and Grendel, among others. The company is also well known for its stance on social activism, explaining […]
When riots broke out in Havana, Cuba in 1898, the American battleship U.S.S. Maine was ordered to Havana to help stabilize the situation. Cuba had become the focal point for escalating tensions between Spain and the United States. The Maine arrived in Havana Harbor on January 25, 1898. Several newspapers, lead by William Randolph Hearst's […]
The Tiananmen, or what is commonly referred to in English as "The Gate of Heavenly Peace," is an enormous gate in the center of Beijing. Originally named Chengtianmen, the gate was constructed in 1420 as the entrance to a section of Beijing called the Imperial City, which itself contains the Forbidden City — which was […]
The 1960s Psychadelic Scene in California has strong creative parallels to the dawning comic book scene of the same era. On October 16, 1965, a collective of artists and bohemians called The Family Dog hosted what is considered the beginning of the Psychadelic Rock era with a concert featuring Jefferson Airplane, The Charlatans, and The […]
The cover of New York Dime Library #360 (September 16, 1885, Beadle & Adams, Publishers), features an image that is startlingly violent in the context of the newsstands of its time. Jumping Jerry the Gamecock appears to be participating in what can only be described as some sort of human equivalent of cockfighting. The interior […]
Nick Carter Stories #1 September 14, 1912 from Street & Smith is the first issue of a 160 issue series (1912-1915), which was a reboot of Nick Carter Weekly (1896-1912) — itself an 819 issue series. The character had previously been featured on the black and white-covered Nick Carter Library (282 issues 1891-1896) after having […]
The New York Weekly Volume 15 #33 from publisher Street & Smith on July 12, 1860, is a relatively early appearance in print of the legendary James C. Adams — better known today as Grizzly Adams — who joined forces with P.T. Barnum for a period around that time, having previously established himself in California. […]
Our comic book heroes have become part of the protest language of the times. This has been true, in other forms, throughout the course of history. Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers, and many more over decades and centuries. And now, Spider-man. Over the past few days, we have seen comic book iconography used again and […]
Lakeside Library Vol 3 #66, published by Donnelley, Loyd & Co in 1880, appears to be the first periodical on the national American newsstand to feature a manned space mission — illustrated and in detail. The quarto-sized illustrated story paper serialized Jules Verne's Round the Moon, the 1870 sequel to the 1865 touchstone From the […]
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