Variety IS the spice of LIFE!

If you don't know by now that I LOVE comic books, then you must have just dropped by for the first time - but let me say this, the current market place does disturb me with it's continuing fixation on the overly muscle-bound "Rock 'em, Sock 'em, Kisses They Never Got" super-dee-dooper type books. Probably 85% of all current US comic books feature some guy or gal in a union suit slugging it out with one or more black hats, dressed in the same kind of togs.

Getting kinda ho-hum if you ask me.....

But this was not the way of it. So without any more gabbing from me, here's a nice mix of NON-Superhero books [some re-posts, some new] to illustrate my point, along with some nice quotes from a bunch of people FAR brainier than I....



Witching Hour 5

Sameness is the mother of disgust, variety the cure.
Petrarca Petrarch
(1304 - 1374)


Land Of The Giants 1

Diversity is not an abnormality but the very reality of our planet. The human world manifests the same reality and will not seek our permission to celebrate itself in the magnificence of its endless varieties. Civility is a sensible attribute in this kind of world we have; narrowness of heart and mind is not.
Chinua Achebe
(1930 - )


Dr. Spektor 2

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live; it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. And unselfishness is letting other people's lives alone, not interfering with them. Selfishness always aims at uniformity of type. Unselfishness recognizes infinite variety of type as a delightful thing, accepts it, acquiesces in it, enjoys it.
Oscar Wilde
(1854 - 1900)


Al Williamson Sampler

Fact of the matter is, there is no hip world, there is no straight world. There's a world, you see, which has people in it who believe in a variety of different things.
Frank Zappa
(1940 - 1993)


Voyage to the Deep 2

Not on one strand are all life's jewels strung.
William Morris
(1834 – 1896)


Vengeance Squad 2

One country . . . one ideology, one system is not sufficient. It is helpful to have a variety of different approaches . . .
Dalai Lama
(The current Dalai Lama, 14th)


"The Mummy" from MONSTER WORLD 1

Human beings like variety, and they also like partnership... these are scientific values we can point to.
Susie Bright
(1958 - )


Unknown Worlds 36

Variety is more than a means of avoiding boredom, since art is more than an entertainment of the senses.
Rudolf Arnheim
(1904 - 2007)


Space Adventures 57

You just have to keep trying to do good work, and hope that it leads to more good work. I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work, and be proud that I tried everything. Yes, I want to look back and know that I was terrible at a variety of things.
Jon Stewart
(1962 - )

Gold Key "Virtual" Spinner Rack

Once again, a "virtual" spinner rack with links to downloadable pdfs of the books.
I tried to select according to taste, for variety and interest, subject to availability.


City Surgeon - Probably THE weirdest one-shot i've ever seen from Gold Key. We love that unbelievable cover, but the interiors are by Jack Sparling - not our favourite artist. Was this written by Gold Key's version of Joe Gill, the prolific Paul S. Newman?
City Surgeon


Man from U.N.C.L.E. #22 - Who does the art in this? I'm pretty sure he worked on the later issues of M.A.R.S. Patrol as well. And who does the writing for this stuff? Newman again? The story is a pretty off-the-wall tale involving space aliens in league with THRUSH.... all this and a Jet Dream back-up strip!
Man from U.N.C.L.E. #22


Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #22 - Reprint of an earlier issue, solid art by Albert Giolitti. I must confess that he's one of my favorite Gold Key artists, and I grew up enjoying his work in this title as well as Star Trek, Turok, Twilight Zone, Boris Karloff and his adaption of King Kong.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #22


Mighty Samson #22 - (Reprints #5) Great stuff from Otto (Bizarro) Binder and Frank (Red Sonja) Thorne....
Hmmm, now that's an idea, Bizarro Red Sonja....
On second thoughts, strike that.
Mighty Samson #22


John Steele - Another wacky 60's Gold Key one-shot (well, technically, there is that "Freedom Agent" one-shot with the giant chicken cover that features John Steele, but it's also Number 1). Personally, I think they should have called him Rod Steele (or Mark Thrust for that matter), they would have sold more copies.......... but that's just my opinion.
John Steele


Twilight Zone #13 - Oh man... for a while there in the early and mid-sixties, you'd NEVER know who would turn up doing art in Twilight Zone, Ripley's Believe It Or Not or Boris Karloff. This issue features a "Mars Is Heaven" knock-off "Way Out West - On Mars" by Reed Crandall. While the story is so-so (except maybe the last panel), the art is SUPERB.
Twilight Zone #13


Dr. Solar #11 - Probably one of the stranger issues of Dr. Solar, as he suffers from a string of bizarre side effects (giantism, amnesia) brought on yet again by his "powers". Goofy fun.
Dr Solar #11


Thriller #2 - Solid stuff by old hands George Evans, Mike Sekowsky, plus probably the best Albert Giolitti art i've ever seen. After the TV show "Thriller" was cancelled, the title morphed into the long-running "Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery" (see a previous post for more of these).
Thriller #2

On The Floor -

Phantom #13 - I'll be honest here... I feel that the Gold Key incarnation of The Phantom's 1960's 4-color adventures to be the most lack-luster of the bunch - Gimme the Charlton issues by Jim Aparo any day (see below).
Phantom #13



Dr. Spektor #11 - More weirdness from the under-rated Don Glut with the lush brush stylings of Jesse Santos (Dagar, Tragg).
Dr. Spektor #11


Turok #57 - Reprints. GOOD reprints. Honk!
Turok #57


UFO #1 - 64 pages of pre-X Files saucer-noia, Lotsa different artists in this one.
UFO #1


PS. While I want to fill these requests i've been getting, some of you guys NEED TO READ THE SMALL PRINT! To quickly re-cap for those who came in late: lots of files stored online. File storage service changed to social networking site. Files lost. I'll do what I can, but I also have a life. I do this for ME, not for you. Don't be so needy. You guys should see some of the comments I dont approve... I really wonder how many people on the planet would fail a Voight-Kampff test (if you don't know what that is see link below), and don't whine, it's unattractive!
I've said it before, and i'll say it again - Don't make me throw you down the stairs!

PPS. My NEW favorite blog has GOTTA be Total Dickhead,

but Plan 9 comes a close second... and remember kids - "The best way to ask for beer is to sing out for Ubik. Made from select hops, choice water, slow aged for perfect flavor, Ubik is the nation's number one choice in beer. Made only in Cleveland."