Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett looks at some upcoming comics just announced.
 
A couple of weeks ago (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--What Do You Get An Octogenarian Art Form?") I responded to a question posted by William "Doc" Grant on Linkedin--"What should the comic industry do to celebrate its 80th anniversary, and how do we attract new readers to join us?"   J.C. Vaughn was kind enough to respond (see "J.C. Vaughn of Gemstone Publishing on 'Famous Funnies' Being the First?"). After saying some nice things about previous columns Vaughn informed me in no uncertain terms that Famous Funnies #1 from 1933 was not, as I had suggested, the first comic book.
 
The "funny" thing is I hadn't seriously been trying to argue that it was.  Not necessarily anyway.  Saying it was just provided support to the premise that 2003 was the 80th Anniversary of the comic book.  I'll happily confess Famous Funnies was predated by decades of collections of comic strips and that there are other contenders for the title of first proper comic book (The Funnies, Funnies On Parade, etc.).  But if I was going to argue I could probably make a pretty strong case that Famous Funnies was the best known, most successful and most influential of the early proto-comic books.  As well as being the one that most closely physically resembles the modern comic book.  To my mind if any of these early comics deserves the honor of being called the first comic book, it's Famous Funnies.
 
So it's a good thing I'm not going to argue…
 
I like to say I'm no longer capable of surprise but yeah, I'll admit it; I was caught off guard by the announcement that Disney was going to be doing new Mickey Mouse cartoons (see "New Mickey Toons").  I was even able to see one that had been leaked online, "Croissant de Triomphe," before it had became "blocked on copyright grounds."  I think it's a safe bet that opinions will differ wildly about how successful the results are but for me it was just nice seeing some of the Classic Disney characters so vividly alive again.
 
But I can't say I was that surprised by the announcement that zombies were poised to invade Riverdale (see "Are You Ready for Archie Zombies?") though.  Considering how overrun with zombies popular culture has become I suppose it was only a matter of time until Archie Comics joined in on the "fun" (they've come pretty close in the past, like in Archie #610 when  Mad Doctor Doom's plot involved turning people into "The Walking Dazed").  Actually I'm more or less OK with this, though it is more than a little depressing thinking today's children are spending a portion of their days fine tuning plans on how to survive the impending zombie apocalypse.  You know, the way I do.
 
I sometimes joke about how it frequently seems like they publish comics exclusively for me; well that's really being tested this time.  BOOM! Studios announced that in June they're releasing Six-Gun Gorilla by writer Si Spurrier and artist Jeff Stokely, the story of a gun-fighting gorilla in a weird dystopian future.  I'll be honest, by its very nature any comic about a gunslinging great ape would immediately get my attention, but this one is even stranger than that.  It's based on an anonymously written fifteen-part serial set in the old west which appeared in the British story paper (the equivalent of a US dime novel) Wizard in 1939.  And if you think I'm kidding about any of that just set your search engine to "six gun gorilla" and you can read the original story online for free.
 
I must admit I am of two minds about minds about Six-Gun Gorilla.  There's the part of me that's hungry for something else, something new that thinks, "Is that where we are as an industry, so desperate for ideas we've started taking them from hundred plus year old public domain boys adventure stories?"  But thankfully that part of me was shouted down by the part of me that thinks, "This may well be the single coolest thing I have ever heard of."  Of course I can't judge a comic sight unseen, so hopefully someone at BOOM! Studios will send me a digital review copy…
 
And, finally, a couple weeks ago (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--The Beating Heart of Comics") I told a story about making a complete idiot of myself while trying to subscribe to The Buyer's Guide To Comic Fandom (the predecessor to Comics Buyer's Guide) when I was a teenager.  Well apparently its founder Alan Light got over it because the last time I went to Super-Fly Comics & Games I found a gift from him waiting for me.  It was very gracious of him and was much appreciated.
 
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.