Every Picture Tells a Story 5/31/22

Cocoa and Bumpy would like to know what you think you're doing.

Memorial Day 2022

Blazing Combat was a magazine-sized black & white comic book put out by Warren Publishing, which also published Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. All of its stories were written by Archie Goodwin (better known for his later work at Marvel and DC Comics) and drawn by a host of famous artists, including Frank Frazetta, Gene Colan, Russ Heath, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Reed Crandall and many more. The war stories within covered many different eras of conflict--from the Revolutionary War through the then-current Vietnam War--and most were told from the average soldier's perspective.

And therein lay the problem with Blazing Combat, at least for its distributors/wholesalers: Since the average soldier didn't want to be in war, many of the stories were anti-war (or, at the very least, could easily be read that way). The Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) soon refused to carry the magazine, and it was cancelled after its fourth issue.

However, proving that you can't keep a good comic book down forever, Fantagraphics published the whole run of Blazing Combat in a hardcover edition in 2009, which was when I bought my first copy. Last year, I bought another copy via Amazon Marketplace--and enjoyed it as much as the first one.

I can't think of a better was to pay tribute to the men and women who have given their lives defending this nation than to read through Blazing Combat again--for the good, the bad and the ugly of armed conflict. It may not always be pretty or pleasant, but it's honest and reasonably even-handed. I don't think you can ask for more than that.

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/27/22

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/25/22

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/18/22

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/17/22

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/16/22

A really pretty tree on my walk to/from work.

Happy Friday the 13th

"Shk shk shk, ha ha ha..."

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/12/22

I feel like elves should be living in this thing. Or really small trolls.

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/11/22

Every Picture Tells a Sory 5/10/22

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/9/22

Yet another party I was not invited to.

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/6/22

Lord Blood-Rah's Nerve-Wrackin' Theatre is a horror movie show running every Friday night at 10 p.m. Central time on VPOD-TV. He begins every broadcast by welcoming all the "lords and ladies" tuning in and then goes on to briefly describe the movie he's about to show--sometimes familiar fare like House on Haunted Hill or Carnival of Souls, sometimes more obscure servings like The Venus Flytrap or Crimes at the Dark House--all served up with a hearty laugh and the urging to "geek out!"

And so I will, Lord, and so I will.

Oh...and the image above? Is my newly arrived Lord Blood-Rah t-shirt, which I now proudly wear on Fridays.

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/5/22

This little fella was polite enough to pose for me.

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/4/22

Happy Birthday to...um...me.

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/3/22

Every Picture Tells a Story 5/2/22