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 Superman’s delayed trip to Cincinnati, the 40s superhero who did a similar traveling storyline stunt, and the return of Atlas Comics.Unlike Kendall Swafford (see "Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk--There's No Crying in Retailing") I'm more disappointed than angry over the late shipping of Superman #703, but then I didn't have the skin he had in the game, though there are a few things about the situation that do bother me. Firstly, like him, I'd like to see someone take responsibility for this. J. Michael Staczynski has a perfectly valid medical excuse for not turning his work in on time if ever I heard one (for those who want to know more about his illness the Bleeding Cool website has posted a story that compiles his online comments on the subject) and I'm really not trying to ascribe blame. I'm perfectly willing to accept that the missed shipping date was absolutely unavoidable.
But what really adds insult to injury for me is apparently most of the comic doesn't even take place in Cincinnati any more. According to a posting by JMS "though #703 starts in Cincinnati, it then moves to Glenville, just east of Columbus. More specifically, it features Glenville High School, which is where Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel first met at the age of 16." So I'm disappointed personally as well as professionally becuase, well, in the two years I've lived in Cincinnati I've developed enough "hometown pride" to be bummed out he's decided not to show up at the last minute and is blaming it on some kind of scheduling screwup. I'll tell you something for free, Mr. Superman, that isn't any way to act if you want to reconnect with humanity.
So, to sum up, Superman #703 is (a) late, (b) the contents are other than what was solicited and (c) it's almost certainly in no way returnable. And without so much as a lukewarm "I'm sorry" or promise to somehow make good on this; so far all we've received from DC is the stony silence that always suggests to me, "Eh, whatcha gonna do about it?"
By the way, what I don't believe has been mentioned in all the stories about Superman's walking tour of America is Captain Marvel did something very similar back in the 1940's. For a while in each issue of Captain Marvel Adventures, the Big Red Cheese would go to a different major city where (during the course of an adventure that was usually so generic that it might as well taken place in his usual unnamed cosmopolitan area) he'd fly past some local landmarks, then pull a quick meet and greet with some of the local notables. Usually this included the current mayor, the biggest local radio personality and, most importantly, the president of the company that distributed Captain Marvel comics.
Though short-lived the company published 28 titles and we'll no doubt see some of the more commercial characters first, but I still hope their immediate plans include a collection of their teen title Vicky aka Tippy Teen (which featured art by Archie Comics great and creator of Cosmo The Merry Martian Bob White). And proving there's nothing too obscure for me I hope that somewhere they still have the stats for Wonder World; if that comic doesn't sound familiar to even Atlas completists it's because it was never printed; the only evidence it ever existed was a mock up of the cover of issue one which saw print in an issue of the fanzine The Comic Reader.
And, finally, many thanks to IDW for sending me a copy of Felix the Cat: The Great Comic Book Tails. While Felix the Cat is a character that currently doesn't have the cutting edge brand name appeal of, say, The Penguins of Madagascar, this simply beautiful book (it even smells good) contains literally timeless stories that kids will love, and professional Comic Book Guys such as myself will greatly appreciate.
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.
