Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Covers so good they actually bleed excitement (some quite literally)

It's time to pick a new random book to review, but it's also Wednesday, so that could only mean one thing around these parts. That's right, it's time for another installment of Comic Book Days of Wednesday's Past!

It was actually a light comic book day for me, and after reading Batman #700 and thinking to myself there's not going to be a better book this week, it seemed like a good time to take a break from the new books and visit the world of old-timey books.

So let's fire up the Randomizer and have him pick a year from 1938-2009 and see what pablum was rotting the kids' brains through the years.

First stop on our trip is 1985! What were the youth of America reading when they weren't breakdancing or playing with the zippers on their parachute pants?

It was Rocket Raccoon #4!

Now I'm not currently reading Guardians of the Galaxy these days, where Rocket Raccoon has found a second life, and I never read the original run of his title, but seeing this cover makes me think I need to seriously rethink my reading priorities.

Look at that...we have a sword wielding raccoon on a robotic horse carrying the severed head of a clown, while being chased by some sort of bat-dragon. How could you not want to know more? Throw in some Mike Mignola artwork and it's a sure thing for the next time I'm at the LCS.

Back to the Randomizer, and let's check in with a different year. Next stop...1943!

Not to be outdone, our trip back 42 years prior pulls a cover that's just as kooky as Rocket Raccoon. The cover in the spotlight this time belongs to Marvel Mystery Comics #43!

I know that racial stereotyping and exaggerating where all the rage back in the WWII era, but what exactly are they trying to say with Hitler on this cover? I'm assuming by the skull chair and the green skin that this is some sort of zombie Hitler? Robert Kirkman eat your heart out. The comically oversized head, on the other hand? Who knows.

That deathtrap doesn't look all that threatening either. I guess they're going to be pulled through the bottom? The crossbar on the top, however, would seem to seriously limit the effectiveness of the spiked cylindrical tube.

Enough fun and games. Let's reset the Randomizer to pick a completely random book from my collection for me to read next. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Bloodstrike #1 from April 1993, published by Image Comics!

Hey kids, look! It's kooky comic book covers done 90's style!

Feel the rage!

Beware the grimaced and clenched expressions!

Lose yourself in a sea of shoulder/arm/leg pouches!

Rub the blood!

Rub the blood!

Seriously? Rub the blood?

That's right, don't think about it and just do what the cover tells you to do.

I'm going to resist the temptation, however, and put this baby up on ebay where I can brag that it's been un-rubbed for the last seventeen years.

At this point, I don't think there's anything left to say. See you in a day or two for the review, in all of its blood drenched glory.

2 comments:

  1. I wasn't reading comics in the 1990's, but was having simulated blood on the cover of your book an actual selling point? Did it also come with a disinfectant wipe stapled in with the book?

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  2. I'm just glad that they stopped reproducing bodily fluids for the covers with blood. It truly was a slippery slope that they were on in the go-go world of 90's covers effects.

    It's still not the most egrarious of examples out there, as one of these days we'll get to the issue with an actual bullet hole through the book!

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