Clotheslined OHMSS Telly Savalas Blofeld, by Howie Noel

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When Dick Tracy Rogues Gallery artist Howie Noel mentioned in his Instagram Stories that he was thinking of doing a series on Bond villains, I sprung into action with a special request / commission: that he draw me a Telly Savalas Blofeld from OHMSS (still my favorite Bond film of all time with my favorite Blofeld of all time) after he was clotheslined by the tree at the climax of his bobsled chase with Bond.

Though Howie’s been cool enough to send me updates at each stage of Telly’s birth, it didn’t prepare me for how awesome the final result was: a place of framed honor in The Paintshop is guaranteed. Be sure to check out Howie’s Dick Tracy Rogues Gallery project on Instagram, where he shares all sorts of amazing stuff, including CLEW, his detective comic strip, and, of course, a bounty of Dick Tracy rogues.

ELSEWORLDS: BATMAN Vol Two (Moench/Jones, 1991-99)

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As I wrote in my notes on GOTHAM KNIGHTS, I've always been more fascinated by alternate continuities than canonical ones – and specifically namechecked Moench & Jones's RED RAIN universe. Confession: while I've read RED RAIN numerous times (though my copy inexplicably vanished, probably in one of the many moves in the naughts) I hadn't read the two follow-ups, BLOODSTORM and CRIMSON MIST.

A panel from 1999's BATMAN: CRIMSON MIST, by Kelley Jones: a vampiric Batman awakens and screams, Don't you realize what you've done?!"

What a treat it was - thanks to this collected edition - then, to re-read RED RAIN and dive back into the macabre world Moench and Jones created (and ported, if not in bloodsucking then in spirit and vibe, into their run on the main BATMAN title, still my favorite run on that series - recently bough a new copy of the first issue of their run, 515 (mine had, like my TPB of RED RAIN, and issue 516, inexplicably vanished), with the new suit that was forgotten far too soon) and read BLOODSTORM and CRIMSON MIST for the first time: while BLOODSTORM is my least favorite of the trilogy (strange, given how truly terrifying Jones's Joker is, a Gwynplaine from Hell, the corrupting devil himself – I wonder how much of this, of Batman's descent into monstrous evil after succumbing to his bloodlust via The Joker, influenced the origin of The Batman Who Laughs), Moench's writing here is a perfect fit for the Hammer horror feel to it all and Jones has never been better, especially in CRIMSON MIST as Bats turns full monster, one of the most tragic vampires ever brought to death, the full weight of what he's become in eternal conflict with every value and foundation that makes the Batman the Batman.

he’s come home

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After a couple of years of staring up at the ceiling at The Toys That Time Forgot at least twice per visit and seeing him, waiting, I finally took the plunge this afternoon and brought him down off their ceiling and onto mine:

Perhaps having him and the memories associated – with him and the rest of his long-lost (and possessed of multiple broken legged/armed iterations of the figures of my youth; his "Power Action Punch" was relegated to barely a wave) – Super Power'ed ilk staring at me from his pristine, carded (not even punched!) and plastic-sealed place of honor above my desk will bring some of that magical playfulness of those formative years into whatever I'm hurling out of my fingers at the moment. Or perhaps not – but no matter: he's come home.