Two Horrifying Tales About ... Honey

If I asked you to name two comic stories about HONEY, could you do it?

You may think of some old Gold Key Whitman 'Winnie The Pooh' comics or 'Yogi Bear' comics from Dell. I'm sure there was lots of honey in those. Maybe even Honey West comics if your mind doesn't automatically go to kid comics. Or more than likely, you thought of the bee from those Honey Nut Cheerios ads.

But Horror Comics?

Well, in the spirit of Hallowe'en, I will give you two. Two very different tales of the horrors of honey from different times and places.

The first is 'Almost Human' from DC's House of Secrets number 129, published in 1975. As told by Jack Oleck and illustrated by Franc Reyes, this tale explores the nasty ramifications of culture shock when a group of entomologists get mixed up with the mysterious bee people of South America.

The second tale is from Japan's 'Céléb d'Horreur', Junji Ito. I've featured Mr. Ito's 'Uzumaki' in a previous blog. In 'Splatter Film' (first published 2004-2006), Mr. Ito brings us another honey from South America, so addictive that one taste is not enough, even though your next taste may be your last!

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!

Just Megawatt

Happened across this web site while looking for some Junji Ito.
Great collection of horror manga!

http://www.justmegawatt.com/comics/horrorcomics.html

Nothing Dies On The Internet... Except Careers

No my friends, comics are not dead.

Back issues will go online and we will pay for them. Perhaps we'll even pay the original cover price. I would drop 35 cents to read Daredevil 158 online. Fifteen cents for House of Mystery 181, you bet! Or maybe a flat rate of $10 per month. It will happen.

How will this onslaught of old-time comics change the landscape?

One big change will be sales stats. Let's say DC puts their old Romance titles online and sales go through the roof. How long will it be before the New 52 includes 'Falling In Love' among its titles? Yes, they used to make comics for girls.

The second change (hopefully) would be education. Favorite artists emerge, lost genres re-appear, and an understanding of the art form blossoms from the shadows of digital media. Comic fans become comic connoisseurs!

I guess what I'm saying is that there has to be the next BIG thing. What iTunes did for music, what NetFlix did for movies, what Amazon did for books. Right now, old comics pretty much have blogs...

Nothing Dies On The Internet... Except Profits

When was the last time you purchased a brand new comic?
You know, the kind you hold in your hands.

How about a physical, music CD?
Was it a new artist or someone you used to listen to marked down?

The last new comic I bought was Detective Comics #854 after reading this review on Comic Book Resources in 2009. That was three years ago.* That's not to say I don't buy comics. I've spent hundreds of dollars on comics since 2009. They're all second-hand and usually cost 100 times their cover price from a dealer.

But what does a multimillion-dollar back-issue industry mean to the publisher?
I'm sure they're glad that people are still buying their comics, and maybe it keeps comic shops (who also sell new comics) in business. Beyond that...

Let's just say that I'm really glad that Hollywood is making these comic-book movies/television shows and showing $$$ profit. 'Cause I have the feeling that comic-book publishers are getting their teeth kicked in at the P n' L meetings based on comic sales alone. Comics still sell (thank God), they're just not as prolific. Explains the $4 price tag.

But I'm not hear to sound the death knell for the sequential art-form we call comics. One day all those back issues will be readily available. I just keep wondering if Netflix will do the same thing to my local comic shop as it did to Blockbuster...




* You can still buy a near-mint Detective #854 for its cover price by the way.
   J.H. Williams III is incredible!