K. G. Murray Publishing Company was an Australian company which was well known for reprinting American comics for the Australian market. Most of these were straight-forward reprints without significant editing or curating. But for a brief period from 1980-83, they rebranded as Murray Comics and started to do some interesting things. They created what I believe to be the first character-centric collected editions, predating modern TPBs by 10-20 years. Of course these were very different -- magazine-sized inexpensive black-and-white reprints -- but the curation of the content is the unique thing here. For the first time, characters like Zatanna, Hawkgirl, and Black Canary had their "own title" composed of their various features and backup stories. As someone who is endlessly curious about the development of the female superheros in popular culture, these books are a crucial turning point - exemplifying the shifting of public focus toward these often neglected "secondary characters" since the late 70s.
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Black Canary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Canary. Show all posts
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Murray Comics COLLECTED EDITIONS!
Monday, August 10, 2020
Justice League International - BLACK CANARY!
A few hours ago I heard the news that Warner Bros has fully shut down DC Collectibles/DC Direct after 22 long years. To me, this is truly one of the saddest things to have happened to the toy industry in all my years of collecting. It's sadder than Mattycollector ending, sadder than all the unfinished ThunderCats lines, and sadder than all the various licenses being revoked before my favorite characters could be made. To me, DC Direct has always seemed like the company with the most love for the genre (of both comics and toys) and the company who had the most fun actually making the figures. And, as an artist myself, I will always have respect for the fact that they gave the individual sculptors and designers credit on the packaging. It's amazing how many companies don't/won't do that. Imagine if every novel you read was authorless. Imagine if every comic was penciled anonymously. Imagine if you never knew the names of actors or athletes. Those pasttimes would be a lot less enjoyable.
Friday, May 11, 2018
Imaginext Collection of DC SUPERHERO LADIES!
The DC SuperFriends Imaginext line is one of my favorite collectibles at the moment. For a long time the line was void of any female characters. Then in early 2012 they introduced Catwoman. That figure actually inspired me to create this blog, Because when I found it (in a Target in the middle of a blizzard), I was super excited to share my discovery, but I didn't have any outlet. Coincidentally, the DC message boards had been taken down a few months prior as part of the New52 reboot (that was my go-to nerdy community at the time). So within a month I started She's Fantastic - although I never did review that Catwoman. Over the course of the next few years, we got Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. Then the floodgates opened and I've had trouble keeping up. This review will collect my nine latest figures: Black Canary, Batgirl v3, Harley Quinn v2, Vixen, Hawkgirl, Carrie Kelley Robin, Wonder Woman v4, (Flashpoint) Wonder Woman v5, and Cheetah v2. Let's check them out below!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Birds of Prey - BLACK CANARY!
The first time I ever liked Black Canary was in 2002's Batman: Hush storyline. It was a very intriguing first impression, but a very alien one compared to the Dinah I've grown to love since. I only have fuzzy memories of her scenes in that story (was she dressed like Mockingbird?), but I definitely remember being reminded of Coyote Ugly. Sooo.. I'm thinking sexy barmaid fistfights? I was too old in 2002 to not roll my eyes at that. Who knows what it was, but something made me start reading Birds of Prey and then I was hooked (shhh.. I even have the show on DVD). Black Canary is one of the very first DC heroines. She debuted in a 1947 issue of Flash Comics, just five years after Wonder Woman first appeared. Granted, that Black Canary had been retconned into this version's mother (only to be merged back into the same character again in 2011). The only real difference is that the original character did not possess the metahuman "Canary Cry" ability, but other than that they possess the same fighting skills, same looks, and same name. Plus Dinah hardly ever uses her cry anyway. Let's check out this classic figure below!
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