New Reese's/Iron Man Commercial

My girlfriend and I visited Southern California last weekend so A Comic A Day took a brief hiatus. Before we left, I quickly posted my amusement about the latest Iron Man 2/Reese's campaign, and when I tried to look up the commercial on-line today, I found this press release. Apparently, there's no wrong way to take a stab at fifteen minutes of fame!

While I still can't find the commercials on-line, I'm sure you'll catch 'em (especially the Dr. Pepper one featuring a Stan Lee cameo) during prime time until the beginning of May, but in the meantime, Reese's Iron Man site is amusing in itself.

Superman Pop Toppers Candy

The earthquake in Chile knocked the earth off its axis. If that doesn't sound like the fruits of a Dr. Doom plot, I don't know what does.

Before the world ends, enjoy this shot of some Superman lollipops at my local 99 Cents Store.

Ghostbusters Slimer Sours

On the heels of yesterday's review of IDW's Ghostbusters: Tainted Love -- I'm always wary when I see prominent merchandising for a franchise long gone. Sure, this year is the 25th anniversary of the original Ghostbusters film, but its distinct logo has been everywhere lately, including here, in mint tin form at Atomic Comics in Chandler, Arizona. Some Smurfs merch was at Target over the holidays, too . . . which confirms thoughts that Hollywood would love to put these properties on the silver screen sometime soon, and they're simply priming the public with good old fashioned brand recognition. Indeed, before Spider-man 3 was confirmed, dollar store Spider-man stickers suddenly included the Sandman, introducing the villain to kids in all of his adhesive glory. So, expect to see your favorite paranormal investigators and those little blue mushroom-dwellers in a theater near you sometime soon . . . and when you see some random Snorkels nightlights at the Target One Spot, now you know why.

Fantastic Four Klik Candy Dispensers

Here we go again.

Today A Comic A Day begins its third incarnation, as a study of comics' influence on every day life. Fortunately for me, the blundering blogger responsible for this mess, that direction is open interpretation, from the way comics shape pop culture, to the comics I'm reading on any given day, to the comics-inspired merchandise one might find just shopping at the 99 Cents Store -- like these Fantastic Four Klik candy dispensers. If you look hard enough, surely you can find a comic a day.

BONUS MINI-REVIEW!

"Tall Tale" by Paul Pope, colored by Lee Loughridge, lettered by Clem Robins
originally published in Weird Western Tales #1, Vertigo/DC Comics

Keen comic book enthusiasts might appreciate my using the Fantastic Four (albeit in candy dispenser form) in a new year's inaugural post, since they're often dubbed the first family of funnybooks and in fact launched the brand we know today as Marvel Comics. Similarly, this weird western short by Paul Pope explores the origins of heroes as a whole, but in a genre we often underestimate as the beginning of such things. The first few panels in this eight-page yarn explain that tall tales about Paul Bunyon and John Henry were the first superhero stories, and their compilation in spaghetti western pulp magazines, the ancestor of the comic book.

Now, when a drunken sop decides to call out a homely bartender he believes to be Wild Bill Hickok . . .



He discovers that some tall tales have pretty short fuses.



Paul Pope's style befits a short, weird western tale like this, and his premise that folks in the Old West were just as mystified as these tales then as we are now is a great way to breach the proverbial fourth wall . . . and make a simple Bronze Age title relaunch amazingly relevant.

One can only hope it's as effective with a certain blog. Giddy up!