I prefer the term geek to nerd when discussing comics fans, RPGers, anime fans, SF readers, and similar people with slightly non-mainstream interests.

http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=32&Itemid=50&limitstart=100

Sorry for the sprawl...

It's number 101, despite the number at the end of the html being 100...

Yeah. Cuz the people who write 12 page dissertations about how Bendis is the biggest moron who ever lived for dipicting Rocket Racer using the wrong brand of skateboard deck aren't being nerdy at all.

You seem to be able to get direct answers from J.M. DeMatteis and he is the one that this centers around.

In his handling of the MAN-THING (vol 3) series, J.M.D. had MAN-THING and his estranged wife, ELLEN (she who caused him to become MAN-THING in the first place) reunite and become split pieces of this heavenly power (much like JMD did with his run on DR FATE, where he has a brother/sister team need to unite as one to become FATE).

They hunt after the pieces of the shattered NEXUS of all REALITIES, with an entity called MR. TERMINIUS (a cosmic level entity) after them for his own purposes. TERMINIUS has taken the son of ELLEN and TED SALLIS (MAN-THING) as his emissary.

Oddly enough, when the MAN-THING series was canned before JMD could complete his story, it seems that JMD takes all this and spins it into his next gig (SPECTRE, with Hal Jordan) and reintroduces MISTER TERMINIUS as a similarly named entity; MONSIEUR STIGMONUS but who now grasps for HAL JORDAN's niece as his liason.

Anything JMD wants to add to this?
Was his story completed?
What was to happen to MAN-THING in HIS version (as the next two issues (that were never released) promised a BOLD NEW MAN-THING.

I've wondered for awhile about this.

Just hopeful that you and he can shed some light.

ThanX!
~P~
P-TOR

FYI- J

It’s also in “The DC Stories of Alan Moore” trade, or something along those lines.

Little pricier, but easier to find, and well worth it.

Thanks, I'll give it a look!

Astrophysics does not work that way!

Well, no one ever said that the Silver Age writers cared much about astrophysics (or any other real science, for that matter).
I vaguely recall an old Superboy & Legion story in which they uncover some evidence of Kryptonians arriving on Earth in the distant past. I don't recall the story's title, but it had something to do with a war between those Kryptonians and the ancient Atlanteans. There were a lot of the standard Silver Age absurdities we've grown to know and come to love. BUT, the most absurd point was that these Kryptonians did not gain superpowers (Superboy also lost his powers) because of the RED sun that Earth revolved around. Now, had this story been set in the far future (some 4 BILLION years or so), Earth will be under a red sun (assuming it's not engulfed as the sun expands in its red phase), but this story was set millions of years in the past so Superboy (and the other Kryptonians) should have been, well, SUPER-powerful.

My understanding is after Marvel went exclusive with Heroes World, DC went to Diamond and Capitol and told them they were going to sign exclusively with one or the other. It was up to them to come up with the better deal. Capitol owner Milton Griepp (who now runs the ICV2.com site) tried to talk DC out of doing this but did come up with a deal, but DC picked Diamond instead.

Again, check all this stuff as I'm going on memory I'm pretty certain The Comics Journal covered this and I did an interview with Griepp about some of it too.

After DC made it's decision, other large publishers decided to put their eggs in DC's basket and go exclusive with Diamond.

and in true silver age fashion nobody would mention the words "gay" or "homosexual" it would all be "gee whilikers, superman is acting like a real sissy since the accident with pink kryptonite!"

Does Pink Kryptonite make Superman become attracted to men? I site this panel - http://www.superdickery.com/seduction/102.html

That panel is from the "Many Happy Returns" storyline at the end of Peter David's run on Supergirl. It came out in 2002-2003, and there was a sequence that looked at the Silver Age Superman & Supergirl stories from a more modern perspective. It was an interesting mix of satire and nostalgia. The pink Kryptonite is a one-panel joke in the montage section.

And Grundy, Grodd and Doomsday are twice the size of the previous "big" figures - the only thing keeping guys of Darkseid's size from fitting on a card is the depth of the blister, and that's easily changed...

Plus, Lobo wouldn’t be any bulkier than Ultra-Humanite or Darkseid - both figures that were released solo.

Both of which were released, as I said, under the JL line. And the JL line was ended shortly after Ultra-Humanite. When it was relaunched as JLU, there were NO bulkier figures, because they couldn't fit in the newly-designed singles or the 3-packs. And there still aren't any being sold solo in stores. Thus resulting in guys like Grundy and Grodd, who were major recurring characters on the show and more deserving of toys than Lobo, not getting made as action figures until years later.

We know Mattel has asked for permission to do Lobo, and DC has said no. We have DC on record saying they refuse to permit a Lobo figure. We have a marketing structure that has made it impossible for Wal-Mart to have carried ANY bulky JLU figures since the line began in 2004. So we know Mattel would like to make Lobo, and that if it did happen, he'd never see a Wal-Mart shelf. Meanwhile, in terms of evidence supporting Wal-Mart as a culprit, we've got nothing more than speculation.

The term "imaginary stories" was used to indicate that they were not officially in continuity. Sounded better. Oh, and that Alan Moore story? Overrated indeed. As a Silver Age Superman fan I never appreciated the suggestion that his saga would end with nearly all his friends and foes brutally killed. Ironically, Moore himself seems to have realized that, judging from some comments he has made regarding his influence on comics (and his work on SUPREME, which was a total SA Supes rip-off.)

As for Lobo, DC seems to have a "let's not draw kids to our mature titles" attitude in recent years, expressedly stated by them to justify the lack of DC/Vertigo crossovers these days.

Just because they might not have been directly involved in the decision to axe the figure, it’s almost certain that Mattel took the retail giant’s notoriously picky standards into consideration

Plus, Lobo wouldn't be any bulkier than Ultra-Humanite or Darkseid - both figures that were released solo. And it doesn't matter whether or not WM was carrying the figures - it's not like Mattel wouldn't want them to...

Loren: never underestimate the power of Wal*Mart. Just because they might not have been directly involved in the decision to axe the figure, it’s almost certain that Mattel took the retail giant’s notoriously picky standards into consideration when deciding whether or not to move ahead…

I remain skeptical. For one thing, the Lobo series ended back in 1999, three years before Lobo showed up on JL. I doubt Wal-Mart was overly concerned about kids digging through back-issue boxes.

Sure, "Lobo Unbound" started up about the same time, but by that time there wasn't really an opportunity to market a Lobo figure, because about that time the line switched from JL to JLU. And although the JL line could accomodate an oversized figure (Darkseid, Ultra-Humanite), the JLU line couldn't. That's why it took a few years to get a Grundy and Doomsday, and why they had to be released in unique ways.

Plus, Wal-Mart didn't carry the JLU line *period* for the first year or two. If you wanted JLU action figures, you had to go to Target or Toys R Us. Even now I think they just stock the singles, and not the 3-packs.

There are plans for future Target exclusives (Grodd!), which could accomodate Lobo. But Mattel has asked DC for permission to do Lobo in the past, and DC has repeatedly said no. Not even as a Convention exclusive. And I can't believe that Wal-Mart somehow intimidated DC into not selling a Lobo toy ANYWHERE.