Hallow-Reading: Casper's Haunted Halloween

Before discovering the joys of superhero comic books as a teen, I enjoyed gorging on "funny books." As a ten year old with few pennies to spend on the fancy comic books displayed in the corner store spinner rack, my "collection" consisted of the discounted discards my brother and I would buy at the local used bookstore. Despite lacking covers (which were removed, I presume, so that they could be sold at a discount), we would buy as many as we could during each trip. The bulk of these starred Harvey Comics regulars such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, and our favorite at the time (most likely because our grandfather was a proud World War 2 veteran), Sad Sack.

Though rife for an update (given that the original premise is slightly dated), new Sad Sack material has not been published for decades. Recently, though, others in the Harvey stable, most notably Casper and his spooky friends have found new, and reprinted, life in a line of titles from American Mythology Comics. All-ages titles such as Casper's Ghostland, Casper's Spooksville, and Casper the Friendly Ghost's Capers regularly find there way to my weekly pull list with good reason: they're entertaining as heck and a little well produced nostalgia goes a long way. They are also among the first books I read upon arriving home.

This past week saw Casper's Haunted Halloween arrive right on time for the holiday. Consisting of six stories from the Harvey Vault, Casper's Haunted Halloween also features fan-favorites the Ghostly Trio, Nightmare the Galloping Ghost, and "the tuff little ghost," Spooky. This holiday one-shot demonstrates the timeless nature of Casper's antics which are published monthly in the American Mythology titles. In the first of a three-part story, "Spook School", Casper is one again being pressured by the Ghostly Trio to become a "nasty ghost". The erstwhile friendly ghost agrees to attend because "education never hurt anyone!" After happily failing the first day of classes with a "minus zero," returns the following day rather than be "clobbered by the Ghostly Trio." Ultimately he and Gary Ghost, a star pupil in Spook School are abducted and taken to Goblandia in the second chapter, "Ghosts in Goblandia." Following a series of misadventures during which the kidnapped ghosts are forced into labor by the goblins, Casper [SPOILER ALERT] he saves the day, and the mean ghosts that belittle his good natured ways, through the power of friendship.

Yes, the story is simple, and, yes, the pages (on high quality paper) are clearly reproductions of classic comics, but the visuals and message remain timely. Ultimately, Casper's earnest efforts to help both those who steal he and his classmates away, and those same classmates who ridicule him, win the day and all but the most hardened and cynical readers. I enjoyed Casper's Haunted Halloween quite a bit and am thankful to American Mythology for producing such high quality reproductions and new content (though not in this particular title) monthly for new and old seasoned readers alike.

Tales from My Funko Pop Shelf 1

Target Exclusive Aggretsuko (Date Night) and Fallout 76 Mothman boxed...

Tchotchke, whether ceramic figures, thimbles or salt and pepper shakers, each Funko Pop in my burgeoning collection has a story behind its purchase. Sometimes it is an extension of appreciation for a recent comic book title or film or, more often than not, it is because the character appeals to a sense of nostalgia. Occasionally it is simply random purchase due to its design. More anecdote or vignette, than full bore "story", as a means of writing practice, I thought I'd share some of the personal backstory behind some of the more interesting Pops in my collection beginning with two of my more recent additions.

Though not of the Point Pleasant variety, I came across the Fallout 76 Mothman at a small boutique-style store in a local mall. Background regarding the character within the context of the game was not included on the box, so in my head it will continue to be a tribute to one of America's premiere cryptids. As a child, copies of my father's Weekly World News were required breakfast-time reading, so my appreciation of this American original began at a young age. I am unfamiliar with Fallout 76 and it's accompanying line of Funkos, so it was nice to come across something new and distinctive in the wild. Additionally, because I always seem to miss out on reasonably priced versions of the multitude of Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti exclusives released as part of the "Funko Myths" line (at increasingly exorbitant third party prices), I did not want to pass this up. More insectoid than the slightly more humanoid Mothman of cryptozoology legend, the bright red eyes and imposing stature remain consistent with the Mothman of Virginia folklore thereby deserving of a spot on my shelf.

Not too long ago I came across the anime-esqu stylings of the Evan with Higgedly Funko Pop of the Ni No Kuni: Revenant Kingdom line on the discount table at a local rpg store. On a recent stop at Target, the Aggretsuko (Date Night) exclusive caught my eye. Since my manga collecting days of youth (okay, more like my early twenties) I have always appreciated the anthropomorphic chibi design of some Japanese characters. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the character design, Aggretsuko was developed by the same company that spawned Hello Kitty, Sanrio. Season 1 of the web show on which this series of Funkos is based, Aggretsuko, currently streams on Netflix, so I was able to catch a few episodes following my purchase. The narrative background provided therein only increased my appreciation of Aggretsuko. The descriptions from the Sanrio website follows almost word-for-word that on the Funko box that describe her as "a single, 25 year-old red panda. Yet despite her cute appearance, something deep within her is filled with rage." That perfectly describes the show. The juxtaposition between the overall character visual designs, post-collegiate angst, and death metal is an incredibly entertaining one. That fact that Aggretsuko carries her own mic to nightly decompression sessions of karaoke only takes things the next level of excellence. Of course, now I need to tack down the Aggretsuko (Rage) Funko to balance out my own collection.

... and unboxed!

Spidey Goes Back to the Future

Back and front cover to Marvel Treasury Edition featuring
the Sensational Spider-Man #22 (1979) by Bob Budiansky and Joe Sinnott.

Recently is was reported that  Marvel Comics will be reviving their long defunct Treasury Edition format for the purposes of reprinting issues of the recently released Spidey title. While I have little desire to purchase a treasury edition for a title I can still pick-up on the rack (were I so inclined) this news has caused a burst of nostalgia in many a fanboy, including yours truly, which of course was the desired effect.

For purposes of scale, left is the
Treasury Edition and to the right a
traditional comic book.

This news also prompted the recall that I actually have a copy of a Marvel Treasury Edition from 1979 piled among other odd-sized issues, mostly from independent publishers. That, in addition to the perception that you were getting 4-5 issues in a single "package", seems to me to have been the key selling point for this uniquely proportioned title. Back in the 1970's, magazines and larger editions were something of a rage. Though the $2.00 cover price would have been expensive for those of us conditioned to spend 35 cents of our allowance per comic book, it was after all larger, so it must be cooler, or at the very least better.

Though I can't recall exactly how it came into my possession, as I often find with older Marvel comic books, it has many of the attributes of a classic Marvel story--which ironically is also what is missing, in my estimation,  from most current Marvel titles. I still love Gil Kane and Sal Buscema's pencils, as well as the story-telling of Len Wein, featured in issue 22. Back-in-the-day, comic book narratives were much more tightly written, and frankly, more action oriented. Nowadays, out of the perceived necessity to reprint titles in trade paperback, every single story arc is stretched out over 5 to 6 issues, many times to the detriment of the story.

As a ten-year old, I totally bought into the
mythology of he Marvel Bullpen, and peaks
inside, such as this one drawn by Mary
Severin, were always welcome.

But Marvel Treasury Edition #22 (1979) is chock-full of classic Marvel goodness. It collects four issues of  the Marvel Team-Up title that showcased stories in which Spider-man would (Surprise!) team-up with other Marvel heroes of varying degrees of popularity. Again, way back in the late 1970's, early 1980's this was not as common an occurrence as is the case now. Also included within is a Bonus Pin-up (on which reprint editor Jim Scalrup declares "what else would you do if you had an extra page to fill up and nothing to put on it?" for what in effect is a J. Jonah Jameson poster!) as well as Stan Lee story about the famed Marvel Bullpen's prepping for an upcoming Spider-man comic strip in a three-pager entitled "Here We Go-A Plotting!".

Like many, I miss what I perceive to have been the hey-day of Marvel Comics, when super-heroing was fun and colorful, and when heroes didn't need to be "anti-" in order to be interesting. Though I am unclear as to how attractive a new Marvel Treasury Edition will be to the modern collector (let's face it, it won't fit in a long box), if the stories told in Spidey reflect this earlier style of story telling, I may just check it out. Until then, however, I have Issue 22 of Volume 1 of the Marvel Treasury Edition, and many long-boxes full of back issues, to remind me of my affection for marvel Comics.

Gil Kane drawing Stegron the Dinosaur Man?
Take my money NOW.