STAFF STICKS: The Classic Comics Crepitation
ANDY’S PICK :: BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG HC: Quickie Quiz– what was the first mini-comic? If you said The Tijuana Bibles, then you sir or madam have entered the wrong site. If you said Bazooka Joe and his Gang, well then you are most likely suffering from the same dental issues and gingivitis that have plagued me for decades. For those of you who don’t know, Bazooka Joe comics were the inside wrapper of every twin(!) piece of Bazooka Bubble Gum. This was in the years before the Bubble Yum Revolution and, I swear, I still get residual TMJ pains just thinking about gnawing that rock hard 1 cent piece of “gum” into a soft enough mass to effectively blow bubbles. But it was the comics with the corny jokes along with the Foreboding Fortune (Don’t look behind you!!) located below each punch line panel that made each jaw dropping (ouch!) experience so memorable. BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG HC is a beautiful new book that provides the history of both the Comic and the Gum and collects several hundred of the ‘best’ of the Bazooka Joe Oeuvre. Now I know comic folks who collect everything comic-related. In fact, I know one guy who saves and bags the entire run of Comic Shop News in MINT!; but I don’t know anyone who collected the Bazooka Joe comics. It was rather difficult to keep them for any length of time, since they were usually carried away by ants if left out in the open for any length of time. So this book is a true 20th Century artifact–a testament to taste over, well…taste. BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG HC is a collector’s dream. The only thing missing is that glorious bright pink sweet smell.
RICO’S PICK :: THE DREAM MERCHANT #1: I don’t know the premise of this new series by Nathan Edmondson and Konstantin Novosadov but the art stopped me cold. The drawing, composition, and color are inspired. This issue is double sized so it’s like getting the 1st 2 issues of a series for $3.50. Let’s check it out and let’s see where it goes!
EP: Being a fan of Rap music already, this project gives me the chance to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. I’m not necessarily discovering new people to cover, but, I’m discovering what makes certain, more obscure people, important in the greater scheme of things.
With our first two host hotels mostly booked, Courtyard Charlotte City Center has offered us a block of rooms at a lower rate than previously available!
JUSTIN’S PICK :: REGULAR SHOW #1: When the Adventure Time comic materialized, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Where’s my Regular Show comic?” Little did I know, my future self answered, “Right here, you crybaby!” Much like its aforementioned Cartoon Network cohort, Regular Show boasts a wildly colorful cast of characters sure to attract the best talent comics has to offer. Worth the price of admission just for the inevitable Rigby/Mordecai trash talk. OOOOOOOOOH!
The Classic Comics Cavalcade reaches some kind of high-point this week:
SETH’S PICK(s) :: JETPACK AND ROCKET EDITIONS: In perusing the list of the week’s new releases, I couldn’t help but see a theme. Thus there are three books I’m recommending, all bound by their common thread of including jetpacks and rockets among their subject matter. First up is Tom Gauld’s latest, You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack. This is a collection of Gauld’s single page strips from the Guardian, and a fine place to start reading his work. Whereas in books like Goliath you see Gauld’s fine line work on display, from what I’ve seen of this book, you get an even greater sense of his skill at humor writing. 
