TRIP TO PUEBLO: Part One

Back on May 9, I had access to some wheels, so Noah and I drove down to the great city of Pueblo, Colorado, to hang out with our buddy and fellow cartoonist John Bueno.  And a good time was had by all.

On our way down, we stopped at the sublime Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs.  This is one of my favorite places on Earth.

Pike's Peak.

Noah on Mars.

View from the Nature Center.

Kissing Camels in the distance.

Kissing Camels, close-up.  (one of the Camels fell down a few years ago, so now it's more like Kissing Camel-Turtle...)

Smooch.

"'Tis a privilege to live in Colorado..."

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OK-- that's enough for now!  NEXT: Pueblo.

FILLER™

Sorry about this, but I'm overwhelmed and a little tired!

SPX 2009 Bowie sketchbook drawing.

Map of My Heart sketch; Cambridge, Mass.

Collaborative comic by Max de Radigues and John P., CCS 10/09.

(Click to enlarge)

SPRAGG: THE LIVING MOUNTAIN

I have loved Marvel Monster Comics since I was a wee, college-aged post-adolescent. These stories were first published in the late 1950's and early 60's in Atlas brand comic books like Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, and Journey into Mystery. Beginning in the late 1960's, Marvel Comics began reprinting these stories in titles like Monsters on the Prowl, Creatures on the Loose, and Where Monsters Dwell, which is where I first encountered them. They're my favorite comics of all time.

This is the third in a series of Spotlights on Atlas-Age Marvel Monsters.

Previously:

Sserpo, the Creature that Crushed the Earth

Groot, The Monster from Planet X 

* * *

I guess the mystery has since been lost to time, but I'd love to know who at Mighty Marvel came up with this one...

American Scientist "Bob" is conducting research in Transylvania when he feels the trembling of an earthquake taking place 500 miles away.  He volunteers to go to the area to determine the cause of the quake, and finds a strange, fearful populace who refuse to even acknowledge the tremor.

In the center of town Bob discovers an enormously tall, circular wall, but the villagers refuse to explain it.  So he begins climbing -- when suddenly he's knocked flat by a burst of electricity!  The next day he rents a plane and tries to fly it over the wall--  only to have it blasted and broken up in midair!  Luckily, when he bails out he manages to land in a haystack...  Will the secret of what's behind the wall ever be revealed?!?

Finally, after consulting an old map, Bob finds an abandoned mine tunnel and burrows under the wall, where he finds a weird kind of construction zone.  There, hypnotized villagers ramble about with complex electronic equipment, toiling away in front of a large pile of earth, while a "strange high-pitched voice" orders them to and fro.  The workers mutter one-liners about something called the "kind" and "wise" "leader," Spragg.  Luckily, Bob's metal Spelunking helmet shields him from the powerful hypnotic forces, and he begins searching for the source of the voice.  Suddenly-- ("The hill – it’s starting to throb – to pulsate!!")--  two slits appear in the mountainside, widening into a set of fearsome eyeballs-- and the voice intones:  "Behold... the all-seeing eyes of your master!!"  Bob is stunned by his fearsome revelation: "The hill itself is Spragg!"

By pretending to be one of the hypnotized workers, Bob discovers both Spragg's origin (He and his kind were formed from "harmless spores floating aimlessly in space and time" that managed to find a home deep within the Earth's crust) -- and his evil plot to enslave the whole human race through his mesmeric powers.  Turns out, though, that Spragg's amazing mental capacity was damaged by the earthquake that brought him to the surface, and, for this reason, he has been commanding the humans in his service to build an enormous electronic dynamo that will boost his brain power.

Working through the night, Bob manages to come up with a brilliant plan to save the villagers and all of humanity.  But will it work?  Can Spragg the Living Mountain be stopped?  I won't say how, but yes, Bob manages to win the battle-- though not the war...  In the end, Spragg lives to fight another day (For some reason, years later, the powers-to-be at Marvel thought it would be a good idea to bring him back-- to cross swords with...  She-Hulk).

"Spragg, Conqueror of the Human Race!"
Story: Stan "The Man" Lee
Artwork: Jack "King" Kirby
Original appearance: Journey Into Mystery #68, May 1961 (Atlas Comics)
Reprinted in Creatures on the Loose #15, Jan. 1972 (Marvel Comics)
Creatures on the Loose cover by Gil Kane, inker unknown
Journey Into Mystery cover: Kirby/Ayers

Images from the great Monster Blog, Comic Coverage, and the Grand Comics Database.

NEXT: GROTTU, KING OF THE INSECTS!

BUSY BEE

Busy Bee, 1999.

(from King-Cat 54 and Map of My Heart)

2010 SPRING TOUR DIARY: Part Nine

From March 9 through April 8, 2010, I toured the Southeast US, doing booksignings, slideshows, school talks, and visiting comics shops and bookstores. It was great trip, maybe the best roadtrip I've ever taken! For what it's worth, here are some photos and recollections of my time on the road.

John P.

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part 3½ / Part Four
Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight

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PART NINE: AUSTIN TO DENVER

We left Austin in the morning, driving up I-35 on our way north towards Oklahoma City...  Pretty soon we were in Waco, so we stopped to pay our respects to a Texas institution--  at the Dr Pepper Museum.

Waco, Texas skyline.

Dr Pepper Museum, Waco.

"The Institute was created in 1997 for the purpose of educating Texas students as well as adults about the free enterprise economic system that our country uses. The program, Advertising and Marketing Kid Style, uses the soft drink industry as a model to teach students about developing, producing, and marketing products. Since 1997 thousands of students from across Texas have taken part in our day-long program."

I was always a sucker for staircases, and this is a real nice one.

After Waco, we continued up into Dallas.  Dan noted that we were really close to Dealey Plaza, so we pulled off to see it.  I have to say, it was a pretty strange and emotional thing driving through.  Having seen the Zapruder film countless times in my life, it was stunning to drive along the same route.  It was so small, just a bend in the road really, and just another intersection in downtown Dallas, but there was no denying the intensity of the experience.  Above is the Book Depository building.

You can't buy advertising like that.

As evening began to descend on Dallas, we frantically conducted an iPhone-powered Texas Steakhouse search.  After a couple stops where the cheapest meal could be had for only $39.95 plus tax, we settled on this budget-friendly one.  And it was good.

We made it up to Norman, Oklahoma that night, where we'd be staying with Mr. Joey Belden, a King-Cat reader, and all around great guy, who helped set up the next day's event at the cool Atomik Pop! store.  This is Joey's buddy, Britney.

Britney and Mr. Snuggles.

Super-cool promo poster Joey made for the event, on the Atomik Pop! front door.

Norman OK presentation; photo by Rod Lott.

The event was attended by a great, enthusiastic crowd.  Super nice people...  They even made me this amazing, beautiful, gourmet Maisie Kukoc cake:

Incredible!

The day after the Norman signing, we decided to make the trek out to Tulsa.  It was out of the way, but I figured, "When's the next time I'm gonna be an hour and a half from Tulsa, Oklahoma?"  I've been fascinated with this town for a long time, mostly based on my love affair with the fantastic Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, who made the city their longtime home, and immortalized it in the mindblowing tune "Take Me Back to Tulsa."

Then, a few months ago, I found out that, along with Miami, Tulsa is considered the Art Deco architecture capital of America!  So that sealed it.  We headed east towards Tulsa.

Beautiful downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Tulsa's Cain's Ballroom is one of the most historic music venues in America.  In the 1930's, Bob Wills made Cain's his headquarters, and played on its stage for years, in raucous noon-time performances that were broadcast live each weekday on radio station KVOO. 

We stepped into the foyer, to the box office, and up above was a huge portrait of Mr. Wills. I asked the guy behind the counter if I could take a picture, and he said, "Sure-- you wanna go inside?"  I think my jaw dropped -- this amazing trip was getting better and better all the time!

Ceiling light above the dancefloor.

View from the stage, Cain's Ballroom.

John P. on the Cain's stage, happy as a clam.

There was a display case in the back of the room, full of souvenirs for sale, so we asked the Box Office Guy if we could get a couple mugs.  He said, "Sure, just let me finish this call, OK?  You can wait here in the office till I'm done."  WHAT?!?!

Cain's Ballroom front office, AKA Heaven.

"Am I dreaming?"

Wall of Fame.

Cain's is also famous for being the second to last place the Sex Pistols played on their ill-fated American Tour (next stop was San Francisco, where they broke up).  The Ballroom had salvaged and framed the wall backstage that Sid Vicious put his fist through.

Mr. Rotten.

More.

Our Founder.

When the box office guy finshed his call, he got us our souvenir mugs and made change, and then handed us his card.  He was Chad Rodgers, the OWNER.  I was floored.  He graciously told us all about the history of the ballroom, and how they had been restoring it from years of neglect.  I walked out of there mug in hand, floating on air.

Scenes from the neighborhood around Cain's...

There was a violin shop down the street--  how fitting!

Downtown.

Outside Tulsa.

We stopped in Wichita to try some Kansas-style Barbecue.  The super nice guy behind the counter gave us free samples of everything on the menu to help us decide!

Wichita, Kansas.

We left Wichita and headed back on the highway towards Denver.  We still had a long night's drive ahead of us, but Kansas was beautiful and full of the most amazing stars.  We hauled ass into the dark...

...and made it back home to beautiful Denver around 1:30 in the morning.

30 days and 7268 miles later.

* * *

YOUR CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Mr. John

Buddy, the Rosebush

Dan

Thanks for reading everybody! 

All photos taken by John P. or Dan Stafford, except as noted.

Total Tour Miles so far:  15,327

(West Coast in August/September 2010!)