Lord of the Diorama

Show your work.

Click to make mighty like Tantor!

From the tabloid-sized DC Limited Collector's Edition C-22 (1973).

Tor in 3D!

Nice panel by Joe Kubert from 3D Comics #2 (October 1953).

Final Crisis #3 cover art preview

No, it isn't. A guy can dream. Who's that pup? More here.

What If...Jack Kirby never went into a career in comic books?

The King wasn't the only creator capable of the high concept character.

Joe Kubert's "Black Racer" from Eerie #9 (October-November 1952).

Time Travelin' Schatzi's Happy New Year!

You never know where Time Travelin' Schatzi © will show up next! But Schatzi is a good dog so he stole a few minutes from his mission to save all of reality to drop in on San Diego's beautiful Ocean Beach in the year 1918 and pose for a Happy New Year photo with some bathers!

Moments after the photo was taken Schatzi sniffed out the sun-worshipers as actually being smelly tourists from Maryland and chased them off our beaches and out of the county, sending them all on their way back to Stupidlandia where they came from with comical rips to the seats of their pants and swim trunks. Schatzi doesn't like the Maryland tourists fouling San Diego's beaches and fine vistas with their imported garbage, foul presence and heathen ways. Good boy!

Where will Schatzi appear next? One never knows!

Joe Kubert goes trick-or-treating!

Other than the cover with all the neighborhood kids checking out Connie Rod's breasts, there isn't much about Halloween in this month's PS Magazine featuring the gritty war-torn art of Joe Kubert (and school).

Things to look for in this issue:

Living, speaking death machines eager to be on the attack!

M-16's don't work right when paper is used to fix them!

Proper uses of the field shovel and torque wrench!

What end of the ear-plug to insert during various noisy jobs!

Camouflage vest replacement!

Order the correct lubricant!

Braking and roll-over prevention!

PS Magazine is not just for mechanics!

Celebrity renderings of George Foreman and his famous grill, Jan Ernst Matzeliger and Garrett Morgan!

Get it here free in pdf format and let the government record your patriotic IP address!

Comic Book PSA: Luck Is A Puppy Named...Oops!

Luck Is A Puppy Named SchatziFrom Star Spangled War Stories #148 comes this tear-jerker written by Robert Khaniger & penciled & inked by Joe Kubert. Starring the popular WW1 flyer Enemy Ace aka Baron Hans von Hammer aka The Hammer of Hell, this tale is about a cute puppy. Oh, and horrible death in war.

In the process of landing his Fokker, the Baron accidentally runs over a stray dog. Saddened by the dog's injuries, the Hammer of Hell (nee Heaven) takes pity on the poor creature, names it Schatzi and bandages up it's little injured paw.

As one can guess from the story title, Schatzi is destined for reprint fame later in a 1970's DC digest of favorite stories. The cover is a bit of a tease, because comic book covers usually pull a bait-and-switch on readers in regards to content. Not this time...war is hell, y'know.

Exercising the inbred wisdom that made some Europeans worthy of being appointed as nobility, the Baron tucks Schatzi into his jacket and flies off into combat. During maneuvers, the Baron does a barrel roll. Inevitably, not having secured the puppy with a belt, it tumbles out of the cockpit and out into space. Sigh.

Overcome with grief and despairing the loss of innocent life, the Baron flips out and shoots six enemy planes out of the sky.

That'll teach them about the senselessness of war! After the battle, the Baron searches the countryside until he finds his pet. As the bodies of enemy pilots burn in the smouldering wreckage of nearby crashed planes, he gives Schatzi a proper burial.













Many people claim SSWS #148 is is one of their favorite stories, but I didn't care for it because it was sappy and manipulative. In the Hammer's pained and troubled life Schatzi obviously represents hope, which he clung to desperately, only to have his chance for redemption slip literally through his hands. No one ever accused DC of being subtle.

Of course, being drawn by Joe Kubert it is automatically better than pretty much anything else being produced by anyone that month.