Comico Complete

Elementals: Ghost of a Chance (1995) by Bill Willingham, Tony Akins and others

Heh — note Alex Ross getting top billing here. He only did the cover, though.

Bill Willingham’s relationship with Comico had ended on pretty acrimonious terms, with Willingham even writing an article explaining how little he had to do with Comico’s Elementals offerings after the 1990 bankruptcy. But here we are, five years later, and a new Elementals book written by Willingham? The original Comico had a policy of having a deep pipeline of scripts and stuff, so was this a script that’s been in a drawer all that time?

It’s hard to say, because this “prestige format” “graphic novel” (I’m quoting the ads for this thing) seems to take place sort of out of continuity.

But more to the point, the entire thing is a head scratcher.

On the first page above, we seem to be getting the introduction of these two characters. One is Vortex; sure — I sorta recognise him, but drawn off spec. The other is apparently Morningstar, but looking nothing like I remember her… but the Elementals have a way of changing costumes all the time, so, er OK? It’s Morningstar?

And she’s going to marry some guy tomorrow? But wants to have sex with Vortex first? Sure, sure, OK, but isn’t Morningstar already married to that Merlin guy?

And… this is how I read half the book. But apparently that introduction (by the passing bystanders) was wrong — she’s somebody else, but her super-hero name isn’t mentioned once in the entire book, I think? She’s consistently called “Janet”, but it’s been several days since I last read an Elementals book, and I don’t remember what Morningstar’s real name was, so this didn’t help at all.

This was published after a two and a half year hiatus, so it had to be even more confusing at the time. And I was plenty confused while reading this.

There’s also a plot about this evil villain trying to … do… something… I know, I sound like I’m having an aneurysm, but I can’t tell you have confusing reading this book was. Nothing seems to make sense.

Akin’s artwork is kinda striking sometimes.

And, er… why does that plane crash land in the background there? I think that’s the first and last we see of that pilot?

Willingham adds a joke.

Oh! There’s Morningstar! When I reached this page, I started wondering whether there were two Morningstar characters now, and I’d just forgotten.

Anyway, there’s a huge bachelor party, and… Vortex gets married to somebody else, has sex (so does the not-Morningstar character (not the marrying part)), has the marriage annulled, and then marries not-Morningstar! Whoho!

(Not-Morningstar conquered that evil villain through means I don’t think were explained in the B story.)

Happy ending! Whoho!

Man, that was a confusing book. But funny, I guess?

Overstreet’s FAN #1, page #74:

Just say Elementals in any comic book shop and
you’re certain to get a wide variety of responses,
ranging from a bemused rolling of the eyes to an
excited yelp followed by a declaration that this was
the best super hero book ever. Regardless of the
response, one thing many fans agree upon is that
without The Elementals, there may not be an inde-
pendent super hero comic market.
Well, they’re back! Not content to merely release
just another comic book that may go unnoticed in a
sea of product, Comico has pulled out all the stops
with Elementals: Ghost of a Chance, a 48 page
graphic novel debuting this July.
“When we decided it was time to bring these
characters back, we knew we had to do something
really fantastic, not just for the long time readers,
but to attract the attention of a whole new genera-
tion that may have not had a chance to read The
Elementals before,” says Allen. “Basically, what we
needed was a fresh beginning for an established
continuity, which, by the way, is as difficult as it
sounds. But not so difficult that we weren’t able to
pull it off.”
With that, Comico returned to ground zero. “We
figured who better to recreate the Elementals than
the man who originally created them, Bill
Willingham? We approached Bill about the project
and, as luck would have it, he was thinking about
contacting us at the time about working on the
Elementals again. The excitement was pretty
volatile at first, but when the smoked cleared, we
had what we believed to be a project that would
bridge the past with the future of the Elementals
and clearly set the team in a bold new direction.
And on top of all that, it was a great story.”
Things started falling into place after that. “I was
speaking to Tony Akins about another project, and I
mentioned that Bill was scripting a graphic novel for
us, and Tony practically begged me to do it. He was
just finishing up his very successful run on Star
Wars: Tales of the Jedi, and was looking for a book
he could really get excited about. He was a big fan
of Bill’s, and, as it turns out, Bill was a big fan of
his. Out of nowhere we had a perfect match.”
The excitement didn’t end there. Once the scope
of this project leaked out among comic book pro-
fessionals, it was only a matter of time before others
would lend their support. “When I first saw what
Alex Ross had planned for the cover, I knew we had
what would be considered among his best work. I
know we were lucky to add his name to our roster,
and that he picks and chooses his projects extreme-
ly carefully, but hey, he said the book was worth it.
Wait till the fans get a load of this!” Ross was signed,
and the creative team was complete. Savs Ross, ‘T
been an admirer of Tony’s work for quite some
time, though there really isn’t a lot of it out there.”
With Elementals: Ghost of a Chance, Comic
has what it believes to be one of the greatest
Elementals stories ever. It’s certain to please the
long time Elementals fans, and get a whole new
legion of readers collecting this groundbreaking
book. Adds Allen, “You think this is something?
Well, you’re right it is, no doubt about it. But, hev.
the Elementals deserve it. It’s the perfect way to
get fans excited for the Elementals ongoing series
which will debut not long after Ghost of a Chanc
ly book!

So Willingham apparently got involved with Comico again? I mean, I wouldn’t take anything the Comico people are saying on faith, because they’re inveterate fabulists, but…

Hero Illustrated #22, page #88:

When
Titans
Marry
While you won’t see the
return of the Elementals
monthly series this June,
the characters will return
for the wedding of Vortex
and Haunting in the
Elementals: Ghost of a
Chance graphic novel.
This special occasion is
brought to fans by creator
Bill Willingham and Star Wars/
Cenotaph artist Tony Akins, with a
painted cover by Marvels artist Alex
Ross.
Akins comments, “I think the old fans
of the Elementals will get a real kick out
of it. I tried to stay faithful to what Bill
Willingham did with his characters,
which is drawing them fairly naturally,
not pumped up. They’re good-looking
folks in costumes. So I tried to stay
faithful to that and I tried to spin things
as dynamically as possible. I hope the
research that was done on the book,
both by myself and Willingham, makes
it exotic because it happens in exotic
places … like a ritzy North Shore hotel
in Istanbul. Plus [there’s] some good
action. The old fans will dig it and the
new fans will pick it up. It’ll be a nice
story to yank their interest, along with
the Tony Daniel stuff coming out.”

Overstreet’s FAN #9, page #127:

It has been quite some time since Comico has appeared in a Lee’s
Comics report, and I’m happy to see them back. Before I comment
on their products, please bear in mind that it is hard to decide
what to order when the solicitation is over six months off. The first
two issues of Elementals sold out, which tells me there is still a lot
of interest in this title. I ordered 30 copies of issue #1 and 20 copies
of issue #2. Also, I ordered 25 copies of Elementals: Ghost of a
Chance and sold 18. This surprised me, as its author, Bill
Willingham, is the original creator of Elementals. Maybe the hefty
cover price of $5.95 and the fact that the consumers are fed up
with six dollar comic books made the difference for this one.
Nevertheless, I am happy to be carrying this title in our stores.

Overstreet’s FAN #9, page #114:

Comico’s classic superhero series
from the 80’s has returned, and this
special 64-page graphic novel is the
perfect way to get to know the main
characters. Vortex and Haunting
finally decide to get married, until
Haunting is called to Istanbul (not
Constantinople) by the commander
of Strikeforce America in order to
take care of Bloody Mary. This non-
babe villain, who has the power to
make people bleed to death just by
willing it, has been stealing ancient
Masonic artifacts, and the
Freemasons, protectors of the arti-
facts, need Morningstar to stop her.
As I’m not a big fan of computer col-
oring, I really enjoyed the fine water-
colors here by Marcus David in this
book, as well as the sight of Haunting
and the stripper at Vortex’s bachelor
party in some pretty skimpy outfits.
will, unfortunately, have to give a “For
adults only” label to this book, as the
scenes with Vortex bedding Astarte
the stripper are definitely not appro-
priate for young fans.

Oh! Her name is Haunting!

I could find no contemporary reviews of the book (other than the above), but they did manage to get some press in the mid-90s blathering comics press, apparently.

I could find no reviews of the book on the interwebs, either. It looks like it goes for a reasonable price on ebay, and Alex Ross seems to be the draw here. “When I first saw what Alex Ross had planned for the cover, I knew we had what would be considered among his best work”, as that Comico shill was saying. Uh-huh.

There was a signed and numbered edition which apparently is worth some money.

Oblivion (1995) #1-3 by Jack Herman, Andrew Dimitt, Neil Trais and others

A couple years after the previous thing Comico published, we get something new: Oblivion!

The publisher (or somebody) explains that this is COMICO 95, and if you haven’t heard about COMICO 95, you must have been living in a cave, boy!

COMICO 95 has all the biggest names in the business! Alex Ross! Simon Bisley! Dave Gibbons! Geoff Darrow!

Except that none of those big names work on Oblivion. Instead we get (*groan*) Jack Herman, who’s been with Comico since the mid 80s, and has written several of the absolutely worst issues of Elementals over the years.

And Andy Dimitt — he’s apparently a relative newcomer?

So…

So what is this, then? Yes, exactly — it’s an Elementals spin-off, but the word “Elementals” isn’t used once in the first issue. Which makes you wander why — why do this? If Elementals is a bankable name, then why not mention them? If they’re box office poison, then why do a spinoff?

Especially since it means that the first issue is page after page of infodumping to bring readers up to speed. But all you need to know can be said in a couple sentences, really: Oblivion is a “hell planet” that has entered the Solar System, and a mythical evil guy from Earth has conquered it. Hey! That’s only one sentence… OK, there’s a comma in there…

Anyway, Saker (the Earth guy) is a feminist — he has all the male Oblivion soldiers killed.

And a romantic, to boot!

Heh, there a “Comico Games” now? And they are launching a card-based game? Let’s look at the rules to play:

Sounds awesome! “Chrysalis is a hit!”

OK, this is the laziest thing ever… I don’t think this will induce anybody to collect them all…

Well, that’s one way to introduce your characters.

We’re in 1995! I guess the Image thing had dissipated slightly by now? But it was still the big thing in US super-hero comics, at least stylistically, and it makes total sense to try to capture that market. So… they do it by having a book that’s half exposition, half torture, and then a kick ass splash page! Yeah! That’s the ticket! It can’t fail!

The new monster villains seem to be, like, 20% Cenobites and 50% Lobo? Odd mix.

The first issue had a bunch of ads for other things Comico were publishing, but it took half a year for those to get published — which is when the second issue of Oblivion landed. So I’m going to go ahead and guess that the first issue of Oblivion didn’t shift lots of copies, and that COMICO 95 had money flow issues from the get go.

Huh. That’s a different style, I have to say… but it only lasts a couple pages.

Oh, and it’s introducing yet another character. She’s from the anti-Oblivion planet (or something?), which makes her an angel, I guess. So her character’s trauma is that she was subjected to thousands of years of super-rape in hell.

Did I mention that I find Jack Herman’s comics to often be kinda… skeezy? Yeah. I think that’s the correct word.

Heh heh. “How’s this for a new Image?” Subtle!

“I don’t trust the pope or his church but I am in love with the man in comparison with how I feel about the Dominions”.

Man, that Jack Herman sure has a way with words. Sheer poetry.

It’s not enough to have the Heaven people and the Hell people — now there’s Earth people butting into the action, too.

Dimitt’s artwork isn’t bad — it’s very of its time, but it’s got some personality. The storytelling is OK — it’s sometimes more confusing than I think it was meant to be, but it’s fine.

Hey! A mention of the Elementals! The only one in the series.

The third and final issue has a recap of the… I hesitate to call it a plot, because very little actually happens.

(Also note the date: This is four months after #2.)

The main thing about this series is just how odd it is.

Not in a fun way, but in a “what am I reading?” way.

Yeah, it’s a Jack Herman book alright.

And this is how it ends: With a “next”, but the series was mercifully cancelled at this point.

COMICO 95 would stagger on into 1996 with a bunch of other Elementals spin-offs, but this time around with “Elementals” on the cover.

After Andrew Rev bought the bankrupt Comico, he couldn’t seem to get any press. For the COMICO 95 relaunch, that was something that was remedied.

Overstreet’s FAN #1, page #73:

Rather than lead off with an established
series (The Elementals – more on them
later), Comico has chosen to go to bat with
Oblivion, a comic epic debuting this May.
We wanted to create a fresh jumping on
point with Oblivion,” states series editor
Vzarello. “Our marketing department decided
that a new beginning was in order for a
relaunch, rather than leading with all estab-
lished property. Oblivion certainly fit the bill.
You don’t have to have ever read a previous
Comico title to understand Oblivion. It stands
on it’s own.”
Oblivion chronicles the exploits & intrigue
of a summit meeting between Heaven & Hell.
This though, is a Heaven you probably won’t
recognize, complete with super hero angels and
massive, high-tech armadas that have to be seen
to be believed. Yes, Heaven’s still a good place,
only, in this series, they have the firepower to
back up their position. But then, so does Hell.
– The series is written by Jack Herman. He’s
not just a comic writer, but a CD-ROM game
designer (Ultima, Wing Commander) as well.

[…]

“First and foremost, this is a super hero
book,” states Herman. “It’s
just that all those particular
genres deal with the fantastic,
with a higher state of man.
Comics just happen to be
best suited for super heroes.
What I set out to do was
work within the super hero.
genre while bringing all these
other genres to the forefront
of my story. So, in the end,
what we may have looks and
reads like a super hero
comic, but it deals with
‘super power’ on a spiritual
or scientific level. It keeps
the reader guessing and pre-
vents anybody from figuring
things out, which, to me, is cool. There’s no
denying that this is a super hero book. That’s
just not all that it is.”
Art for the series is provided by talented new-
comer Andy Dimitt, of whom Herman had noth-
ing but accolades. “Working with Andy has been
a dream! As a writer, I always try to script to an
artists strengths, and when those
strengths are considerable, the
sky’s the limit. He’s the kind
of artist that younger read-
ers will go ga-ga for,
what with all that in-
your-face action

Right.

Hero Illustrated #22, page #87:

To put it all in a nutshell, the old
Comico (which produced such comics
as Jonny Quest, Mage, Maze Agency
and Elementals during the 1980s) met
with financial problems and ultimately
bankruptcy. New ownership came in
and spent a considerable span of time
problem-solving-some problems left
by the previous owners, some of their
own device. The new Comico struggled
to get the company back on its feet
while publishing comics. In April of ’93,
they suspended publication. Why?
Comico Editor In Chief Brian
Azzarello explains: “The break was at
the time we were doing reasonably
well, [but the publisher] and I saw the
glut coming. On one hand, I’m sorry we
were right because a lot of people real-
ly got screwed. On the other hand, it
gave us the ability to hold on to a lot of
stuff, sit back, see where the mistakes
were being made and give us the time
to correct [them]. We were probably on
the way to making [them] ourselves.
Now that the dust seems to be [set-
tling], I think this is a good time for us to
come out. So when everybody’s
retrenching, that’s the time to attack.
“By taking two years off from publish-
ing, we were certainly allotted the nec-
essary time to figure out what makes
comics good, and … I guess the down-
side of what the market had become,
where so many of the books that are
out there are just interchangeable at the
moment.”
Comico may have halted publication,
but they continued to produce comics
and now have over roughly 30 issues
completed and ready to go. Comico
also spent that time talking to fans and
retailers, developing what they believe
is a solid marketing plan to support
those books.
Hell On Earth-And
Heaven, Too!
Comico has chosen to launch with a
new miniseries, instead of leading with
clearly their most recognizable property,
The Elementals. What kind of market-
ing plan is that?
“Rather than start off with what we
we’re known for,” Azzarello explains,
“we wanted to create a fresh jumping-
on point for people with Oblivion.“
May sees this jumping-on point, the
six-issue Oblivion miniseries, from
writer Jack (Elementals) Herman and
artist Andy (Dark Horse Comics, Slash)
Dimitt.

Can what Brian Azzarello says be true? I mean, it sounds unlikely, especially considering how slow this book was published…

Flux #5, page #93:

OBLIVION #1-#3
Comico
Written by Jack Herman, penciled by
Andy Dimitt, inked by Neil Trais
Comico Comics may have published a
lot of really crappy stuff during their
final days, but this series rocks! It’s
packed with intrigue, dozens of charac-
ters, and subplots galore, not to mention
incredible babes and buckets of gore. It’s
heaven vs. hell, but our heroes are from
hell! And hell is a planet called Oblivion.
Lord Saker, from the original Elementals
series, has staged a hostile takeover of
Oblivion, and now he’s trying to take
over the rest of the universe as well,
starting with a little meeting right here
on Earth. Most comics with balls are also
unfortunately pretty awful packages.
This is slick, badass publishing.
RATING: 10

Wow. What kinda magazine was Flux anyway?

Oh.

I guess just don’t believe they produced 30 comics during 1993-95 in a 1995-ish art style.

Text Pages:

The series returned again in 1995 with
three issues that took place after the
Oblivion War. Willingham was again not
involved, and this small run is pretty
forgettable.
Elementals never got the wrap-up it
deserves, having instead just faded away.

The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide #2, page #482:

When the first issue’s editorial is arrogant and foolish
enough to claim that “two talented individuals” have
created ‘a stunning amalgamation of superheroics, science
fiction, espionage and cold war intrigue’ it’s inviting
contradiction. What writer Jack Herman has done is read
Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar and some Clive Barker books, and
what artist Andrew Dimitt has done is to watch Clive
Barker films when he should have been paying attention
in his anatomy classes. Utter bollocks, and derivative
bollocks at that.~FP

Fair.

Hero Illustrated #21, page #47:

Is it Worth It: Yes. Although not perfect,
this has many great touches. The
science-fiction interpretation of
Christianity is very entertaining. This is
a very cynical book, with cartloads of
subplots and oodles of intrigue. It’s
not a shy book either; the gore is quite
graphic. The summit meeting of the
angels is hilarious. Jesus is described
as an incompetent operative who
botched his mission. There is also a
mystery as to who or what Falamak is.
Falamak is obviously the equivalent of
“God,” but with the mortal status of
other mythical beings in this book, it is
definitely left open to question whether
Falamak is just another “Oz.” The
backstory-very evident but slowly
revealed-adds a nice overall touch.
The Good: The historical identity given to
“Lord Saker.” I’m not telling-read it
yourself!
The Bad: The recon team that the
Charnel Church assembles is a bit too
superheroish.
The Ugly: The view of the stars close to
Nirvana. It’s a killer.

Comics International #87, page #46:

Oblivion is a machaevel-
lian story line of com-
pelling complexity.
Oblivion is a hell planet
at war with Edonoplis.
Both planets are rife with
competitive factions
jockeying for power, in
the middle is the reli-
gious order the “First
Church of Carnage”
a hero. The demons
they’ve got to stop aren’t
exactly your average slob-
bering monstrosities:
They’ve got more brains
than our heroes put
together!

Wizard Magazine #46, page #32:

Oblivion, written by CDROM game designer
Jack Herman with art by Andy Dimitt, is the
first six-issue mini-series to begin in June. The
premise is a “summit meeting” between Heaven
and Hell that evolves into a war.

See? COMICO 95 got into all the 90s comics magazines — Wizard, Hero Illustrated, Comics International… And they were all ecstatic about Oblivion. The Comics Journal #175, page #29 had a news story about COMICO 95:

Comico Revs Up for Return
Comico the Comic Company, after a two
year hiatus from publishing, is back in busi-
ness. Comico Publisher Andrew Rev has an-
nounced several new projects featuring new
and old properties, which will debut over
several months beginning this May.
Comico filed for Chapter 11 reorganiza-
tion in 1990 after the company had accumu-
lated $1.19 million in debt, most of which
was owed to its former distributor, DC Com-
ics, and primary printer, Sleepeck Printing.
That same year, Chicago entrepeneur Andrew
Rev applied to the bankruptcy court to take
over the Comico name and assets.
Rev’s takeover of Comico was met with
resistance at first, but ultimately a challenge
by rival suitor Malibu Comics in early 1991
was defeated. Malibu had bought the claims
of several secondary creditors and filed its
own claim for Comico in late 1990, but in
February of 1991 the bankruptcy court ap-
proved Rev’s plan.
Rev’s reorganization plan involved a
$7,000 payout to Comico’s creditors, which
amounted to less than two cents for every
dollar owed. In return, Rev obtained
Comico’s name, inventory, and domestic
publication rights to contracted yet unpub-
lished works. Also during this time, Rev
made a seperate deal in his own name for the
rights to Bill Willingham’s Elementals series,
which had been Comico’s most popular title.
Malibu submitted a counter-bid of
$10,000, which was rejected by the court,
and prompted an appeal by Malibu of the ap-
proval of Rev’s plan. Dark Horse Comics
also filed an appeal to the Rev plan on behalf
of former Comico artists Matt Wagner and
Dave Stevens, but withdrew the objection be-
fore a ruling, stating that the situations sur-
rounding the artists had been resolved.
Rev, 42, is a native of Hungary who has
done consulting on information services for
Citibank and has been involved in the direct
mail business.
Rev reports that Comico never officially
went out of business. “We’ve been essen-
tially a hard-working production house, and
what we’ve been able to do is complete over
30 books with the thought that when we pub-
lish again we would avoid any shipping prob-
lems whatsoever,” he said in a press release.
Comico’s first comic to be released in
several years will be a new series titled
Oblivion, a six-issue miniseries set to debut
in May. The title will be written by CD-Rom
game designer Jack Herman, with art by
Anddy Dimitt.
Comico’s flagship title, Elementals, will
be back on the stands in July, and will be
written by the series’ creator, and former
owner, Bill Willingham. The title will be
drawn by Tony Daniels.

They’re consistent about the story of having 30 books on hand to publish. “[W]ith the thought that when we publish again we would avoid any shipping problems whatsoever” is amusing — they only managed to publish three issues of Oblivion over a year before giving up, so I’m sticking with my guess at this all being a lie.

I mean, “a good line for publicity” or whatever they call it.

Strike Force Legacy (1993) by Bill Willingham, Mike Leeke, Jack Herman and others

Hey, we’re getting towards the end of this blog series. I only have to read 20 more issues and write 12 more blog posts.

And this is a doozy, because I don’t even have to read it.

Because this 48 page special (with metallic inks on the cover and stiff paper stock) is a reprint. Which makes sense, I guess — Comico were trying to launch Strike Force America, so why not reprint their “origin story” from Elementals?

So that’s what we get.

This includes the (perhaps) unfortunate Saddam Hussein issue.

Dastardly!

As usual with Comico books from around this time, there is no coverage in the comics press of its time. But it’s a somewhat notable book in a way: It was published in October of 1993, and would be the only “new series” Comico would publish over the next couple years. Of the books listed above, I think Elementals would continue to be diffidently published, but it’s not until August of 1995 that we’d get something new from Comico: Oblivion. Which I’ll cover in the next blog post.

(Ratman and Avalon would never appear.)

But there’s a news story from February 1993.

The Comics Journal #156, page #21:

Ho Anderson signed a contract with Comico on
February 8, 1990 for “Johnny Angel,” a 20-page
story that was to appear in the first two issues
of a series entitled Comico Illustrated. The
promised rate was $100 per page – “$50 per
page for script” and “$50 per page for artwork
(pencils, lettering and inking)” — for a total of
$2,000 for the whole story, to be paid “within
30 days of receipt by Comico of the work in
question.” On February 12, Anderson turned in
the script and was paid $1,000. But after turning
in the artwork on April 4, he never received the
rest of his payment.
Meanwhile, Comico owner Phil LaSorda
had filed for Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act,
known as “Reorganization,” in February. (Chap-
ter 11 allows a business to continue operating
while paying off its debts under court supervi-
sion.) In September of 1990, Chicago business-
man Andrew Rev purchased Comico; under
bankruptcy law, the money he used to buy the
company was meted out to its creditors by the
court in which Comico had filed for Chapter 11.
Anderson did not realize that he had to file
a claim with the bankruptcy court in order to
receive payment (or at least partial payment) of
the money owed to him, so he began to call Rev
periodically asking when he would be paid.
After getting no definite answer for two years,
Anderson approached the Journal in hopes that
a news story would force Rev’s hand into either
paying him or returning the artwork. During all
this time “Johnny Angel” had never been pub-
lished.
When the Journal showed Rev a copy of
Anderson’s contract and asked why he had put
off paying the artist for two years, Rev explained
that he had never seen the contract before and
had been under the mistaken impression, gained
from employees of the old Comico, that Ander-
son was to be paid upon publication of “Johnny
Angel.” When asked why he had not returned
the artwork, he said that he still intended to pub-
lish it when the market was favorable. “The right
time to publish something is at the discretion
of the publisher,” he added.
Once Rev examined the contract, he declared
that he had no obigation to pay Anderson the
remaining $1,000. “When I bought Comico, I
bought it from the courts, not from LaSorda,”
he said. “I paid one lump check to the court,
which administrated payments to creditors. [An-
derson] should’ve filed [with the court] back
then.”
Bankruptcy attorney James Schaeffer, based
in Seattle, WA, agreed that Rev is not legally
required to pay Anderson the remaining $1,000.
He also said that at the time Comico declared
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Anderson should have
received notice stating as much from the bank-
ruptcy court. When asked if he had been noti-
fied, Anderson said that he could not remember.
Schaeffer advised Anderson to file a claim with
the bankruptcy court even at this late date on
the off chance that some of the purchase money
remains. “If the money’s all gone, there’s not
much he can do,” he concluded.
At this point, Anderson says that he just
wants his artwork back so that he can try to get
it published with a different publisher. But Rev
maintains, “I bought the whole inventory of
Comico, of which the artwork is a part. Ho sold
his work lock, stock and barrel to Comico. It
belongs to me now.” Anderson and Rev are cur-
rently negotiating a settlement over the artwork.

You can pick up a copy of this cheaply, but I note that there are many sellers who try to get $10 or so for this, and note that it’s “rare”. Perhaps Comico didn’t manage to ship all that many of these out to stores? Because they were out of money again?

I’m just guessing.

Elementals Sexy Lingerie Special (1993)

This is a pin-up issue, made by all these people:

The editor explains that this is the Elementals’ “the first ever Lingerie Special” — which may sound like an odd thing to say, but there’s a reason: There are going to be more of them.

The editor also explains why this exists: To provide some levity in the midst of the gruelling war plotline in the Elementals’ main book. Sure! That’s the ticket!

Unfortunately, I think even the horniest teenager in 1993 would be rather disappointed by this book.

It’s not that the artwork is awful — some is bad, and some is good.

But there’s just sixteen pages of pinups — the rest are pages of dossiers and ads and stuff. And that’s after forking out $3! Poor kids!

OK, I laughed at that one — the dolphin in the shorts is a a nice touch.

That’s a pretty stylish art style.

This was printed in two versions — one with and one without a poster. I only have the posterless version, unfortunately.

I like that “Value: Cover or less” note.

That’s the only “press” I can find for this book in the 90s comics magazines. Man, post-bankruptcy Comico was awful at getting press…

I’m unable to find any reviews of this book on the intertubes. It does sell over cover on ebay, though, so I guess it does have some sort of commercial afterlife.