Super-Vixens: Roxy Spaulding

My first introduction to GEN 13 and Image Comics in general came one day when my co-workers had stopped off at a Blockbuster Videostore to rent some flicks for the weekend. At the time, Blockbuster was in the process of “cross merchandising” its wares, and for a brief time, actually sold comics! In any case, my friend Jas saw a slick comic featuring some very pretty girls and picked one up to check out.

Upon arriving back at work (ah, how lax worktime was back then!) Jas, who’d read the entire comic on the ride back, threw it to me and said, “hey, check this comic out, looks totally like the kind of stuff you like, cute girls and the artist is pretty good!”

The comic was called GEN13 (and this was labeled as Issue #0!) from a comic company called IMAGE featuring writers Brandon Choi, Jim Lee and artist J Scott Campbell, though I’d heard of Jim Lee(from his popular new X-Men stint, natch), I hadn’t heard of the other two guys, but from just glancing at page one of this new comic, I knew I was gonna love it, and by the end of it, I was a fan and wanted to see MORE!

Although briefly covering everyone, the issue mostly featured the wacky characters of Roxy and Grunge, two really outgoing, wacky and HILARIOUS characters, and the peppy dialog really enhanced the beautiful artwork. I was to later read that Roxy had been based on Natalie Portman (back when she was still a cute young thang in LEON), but at the time she seemed like nothing more than a savvy, sassy fun-lovin’ teenager, and she immediately became my favorite member!

In later years, Choi and Campbell pulled what I call a “Mallory Keaton” on Roxy, where it seemed like issue by issue, she was getting dumber and dumber, for comedy’s sake of course. And make no mistake about it, Gen13 was all about the comedy! It didn’t bother me when she started becoming the resident Phoebe Buffay, but it certainly was jarring when I later went back and read those earlier issues!

Air-headed or not, throughout the series, Roxy remained the “heart” of the comic, and, along with Grunge, always kept things lively and light when the story sometimes was taking a turn for the somber! Going through the enture series again, it’s easy to see that these characters were the ones that really made me love the strip so much!

Roxy Spaulding

by

Brandon Choi, Jim Lee

 and J. Scott Campbell

Gen 13

Super-Vixens: Caitlin Fairchild

So having read and loved Gen13, I found out from friends that this “Issue Zero” was in fact a bonus issue that was tagged onto the end of the original series. How confusin’ was THAT? (of course, creating bonus issue zeroes seemed to be a regular thing for many a comic in later years, but this was the first I’D heard of it!)

The original series was a 5-Issue miniseries, and it was (at the time) a very coveted and highly priced collector’s item, but taking one look at the cover of Issue One,(with the VERY saucy picture of Fairchild literally bursting out of her dress, and when was the last time you saw a super-heroine in her panties on a cover?) I made the leap and got all of those issues, finally getting to read the origin that I’d only read in capsulated form (in issue 0) as the epic five part saga it was!

Funny, unlike the Issue 0, which fronted the comedy team of Roxy and Grunge, it was clear here in the original five issue storyline that Fairchild was the main character, and it was so interesting to be seeing the story from her point of view, if you know what I mean. Though she would continue to be the statuesque buxom babe (and perennial leader) of the group, she would later be outshone by Roxy and Sarah Rainmaker as the “quirky” gals of the group.

Caitlin Fairchild

by

Brandon Choi, Jim Lee

 and J. Scott Campbell

Gen 13

Super-Vixens: Sarah Rainmaker

Shortly after the original five-issue miniseries ended and that fateful Issue Zero came out, it was announced that Image Comics would be starting up a NEW Gen 13 series, and thru to its origins, this one was even MORE wacky than its predecessors (if that’s possible) with the Gen 13 group fighting evil Maurice Sendak characters, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and even teaming up with the Archie Comics gang!

Fairchild and Roxy were the same characters we’d come to know and love from the miniseries, but if there was one character that really got fleshed out and more fully-developed in this mazi-series, it just HAD to be Sarah Rainmaker, Gen 13’s resident Native American babe/Superheroine! Unlike the very by-the-book Fairchild and the uber-nutty antics of Roxy, Sarah was inevitably the group’s calm and thoughtful voice, and I daresay she even turned out to be the group’s sultry resident sex-kitten!

I remember at the time there was a kind of online controversy regarding Native Americans being stereotyped as overly sexual, and while I haven’t particularly noticed it in other comics as a whole, I will admit that for a awhile there, Sarah was just about the most beautifully exotic woman in that strip regardless of her ethnicity, and one that I certainly looked forward to seeing each month!

Oh, and following in extremely clichéd comic rule regarding superheroes of Native American descent, Rainmaker’s costume of course has lots of fringe and tassles. All Native American comic super heroes have fringe and tassles. Go Figure.

Sarah Rainmaker

by

Brandon Choi, Jim Lee

 and J. Scott Campbell

Gen 13

Nostalgia From "The Blues Brothers"

When I was a kid, I used to go to movies with my friend Jas and his mother, and one thing we’d always do if we liked a movie was sit through the movie for two sittings (can this even be done anymore?) and I remember once even sticking around for the beginning of a third!

 One such movie was the 1980 John Landis musical comedy THE BLUES BROTHERS, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as the titular musical siblings, and not only did we stick around for two showings of this one, we loved the songs and performances so much, we went back with other friends so they could check it out, too!

As a story, the tale is a pretty simple one, (when the brothers find out their old orphanage is going to be sold unless they can come up with the money to pay the back-taxes, they decide to reform their old Rhythm and Blues band up) but when I was watching it again, after all these years, it strikes me how much the IMAGERY of the movie has stayed with me. So many of the scenes are like looking at captures of my childhood!

Really, from the opening scene with Elwood waiting to pick up Jake as he leaves Prison with the sunlight shining from behind him, to the ominous creaky steps up to the Mother Superior’s Room at the orphanage, these are images that have ingrained themselves in my mind, so whenever I read about a prison scene or a church scene in a book or story, these are the pictures I see in my mind!

And one other thing that I’d completely forgotten about was the appearance of Carrie Fisher as Jake’s jilted ex-fiancé- at the time I first saw this movie, it was the first non-Princess Leia role I’d seen her in, and I remember being completely stunned at how pretty she was in “real” clothes, with her hair down looking like a vixen proper as she tried and again and again to assassinate Jake and Elwood!

FreakAngels, Collected

I picked up the last Graphic Novel of the epic Warren Ellis/Paul Duffield futuristic online drama FREAKANGELS only a couple of weeks ago, and in a wonderful timing coincidence, I just got in the mail today the awesome SLIPCASE they'd put out to house all six books once you'd collected them all, and MY DOES IT LOOK BEAUTIFUL!

Front:

Back:

Collected:

When I'd initially seen the slipcase available for pre-order, I order that thing so fast, I can't even remember how much I paid for it! But whatever it was, I think it's safe to say that it was worth it!!

Signs You're In a John Byrne Comic!

Assaulted People are lifted up by the Neck!!

Fantastic Four #258

Fantastic Four #288

She Hulk #44

Action Comics #588

Superman #1

She Hulk 45

Action Comics #586

About “Signs That You’re In a John Byrne Comic”:

Like many of you out there, I am a HUGE fan of John Byrne, and have voraciously read just about every title he’s done over the years, from Marvel to DC, Dark Horse, and Beyond!

And as any fan of Byrne can tell you, there are many things that are BOUND to happen in a any given tale of his, and the “Signs That You’re In a John Byrne Comic” entries are just fun captures of similar links between his wonderful stories that give you a sense of Deja Vu!

Barbara Eden, Again

The movie “Harper Valley PTA” (based loosely on the famous Jeannie C. Riley song of the same name) was like a lot of those Disney summer movies of the 70’s like the North Avenue Irregulars, with its zany women and their wacky hijinx, but for a Barbara Eden fan like me, it was more like pure heaven!

As I’ve stated many times before, I’ve always had a penchant for those “I Dream of Jeannie” episodes when she wasn’t in the harem costume and much preferred her to be dressed in “regular” dresses, blouses and outfits, so a movie like this that showcased exactly that was a dream come true!

 Not only did I get Barbara draped in the most swingin’ of fashions, they were all presented to me in all her bra-less glory that only a movie could provide! Ahhh, ya just gotta love the seventies! 

And if that wasn't captivatingly stunning enough, when she WAS wearing a bra, why, that would just about be the only thing she’d be wearing! Yep, Harper Valley PTA: Camp Factor: A+, SEXY Factor: AAA+++!

 I remember seeing the movie poster for this way back in 1978 and thinking, “Whoa, Jeannie Looks frickin’ fine in this!” Sure is nice to know that when I finally got around to seeing it, it didn’t disappoint!