The Perfect Panel Project #4

One of those things I should have gotten around to telling you about LONG ago is
JL8 by Yale Stewart. My friend and co-worker Tessa actually introduced me to this webcomic two Augusts ago! Sorry. I've been a bit monomaniacal lately.

JL8 (rumoured to have been renamed from Little League not because of objections from DC Comics but because of objections from the baseball people) follows the amazing everyday adventures of grade-school superheroes and the social awkwardness they endure and friendships they grow together.

There are 142 strips to date. Each is to be treasured, if you ask me. The author is one talented chap! Mr. Stewart has several years of contributions posted to the website deviantART. He also owns a comic called 'Gifted' which you now know as much about as I do, because I only just heard of it right now while doing my usual spotty research.

In the final panel of the 108th JL8 strip, Diana gets fed up with the antics of the pre-tween Dark Knight. Her ire, while understandable, is of course, rather unfair. Lil' Bruce is acting up in a desperate attempt to spare the feelings of almost everyone at the Amazon's party. Bruce's BFF Clark has a crush on Diana, while Diana's BFF Kara secretly loves Clark! The Bat Boy hurriedly advises the Boy of Steel to forgo the gift of a flattering 'Wonder Girl' story Clark wrote for Diana on the advice of comics guru Neil Gaiman. Complicating matters is the BatLad's own burgeoning affection for Kara...

Got all that? Well, read it, I say! Skillfully illustrated, touchingly written, with multidimensional playgrounds of heart and humour. I recently laughed my butt off at a cameo appearance from naughty Booster Gold and Blue Beetle making a run for it when caught firing spitballs. It's nonsense, but it's totally in character, too. Not to be missed.

The Perfect Panel Project #3

From the city once 'famous' as the Archie capital of planet Earth I bring you greetings and a panel perfectly encapsulating the friendship of Veronica Lodge and Elizabeth Cooper. Before the term 'Frenemies' existed, there was Ronnie and Betty. From Little Archie #4 1957 by Bob Bolling comes an eternal struggle which anyone with friends or siblings is sure to recognize.
Word at Pop Tate's has it that Archie and Ronnie may soon tie the knot, ending the triangle of bitterness... forever? Of course, this being comics, I also expect Archie will soon be making a deal with Mephisto to exchange Ronnie for Betty.
It's not dissimilar to the deal Mr. Weatherbee once made to make the populace of Riverdale immortal- reliving the same year of their lives over and over and over and over as the world moves on around them in a macabre dance of perpetual merriment and torment.
Keep abreast of the lighter side of the human condition by visiting your local comic store.
I recommend Happy Harbor Comics if you're ever up north in the Archie capital.
They'll be happy to be your new worst best friend.

The Perfect Panel Project #2

Thanks to the internet wag Linkara, I have a better understanding of the term 'The Silver Age'. It's a comic book term for the comics (DC's comics primarily) of the 1950's and 1960's. It is considered by many to begin when Barry Allen became the Flash and by some to end when Gwen Stacey is killed over at Marvel.
We're supposed to pretend this period never happened while reading modern DC comics.
Because, as my very pro-Marvel friend Diego once said, 'The DC Silver Age is a window into madness.'
Case in point is this panel in Adventure Comics #271 from 1960. I read it for Superboy's 'first' meeting with Luthor, but as a special bonus I found a panel that perfectly illustrates Silver Age Aquaman.

What I would like to express here is that this story 'The Second Deluge' uncredited, is indeed mad. It's barking. Captain Noah is gathering two of every animal aboard his modern ark as part of some cock-eyed scheme to harvest gold from seawater. Aquaman, naturally, foils him with octopi and fish telepathy.
And I also want to say how awesome that is. Ludicrous?
Absolutely. Unscientific? Indubitibly. Misspelled words? You bet your butte. But this addled era is chock-a-block with creativity. Nameless souls toiling beneath DC's cruel yoke pulling fish story after fish story out of the ether for delighted kids back when kids still read comics and got delighted. And that rocks. Imagination is a precious commodity that should be celebrated wherever it may be found. If you think hammerhead sharks can't be good riveters because they can't literally hammer with their eye-sockets then you just aren't thinking big enough, crazy enough, enough like a kid.
I envy them, the Silver Age writers. Not the living hand to mouth, working themselves into early graves in obscurity, wasting their lives on 'kiddie stuff'. Not the misogyny, everyday racism, oppressive cultural conformity and non-existent emotional outlets, either. Actually, as usual, I would NEVER VOLUNTEER TO GO TO THE PAST.
But... the sheer volume of imagination! I am frequently amazed by it.
Also, they appear to enjoy the odd story about spankings.
But I'll leave that for wiser heads to examine.
All hail the Silver Age, baby! It's nutty cuckoo and that's the way I likes it.